diff --git a/controllers/dspipeline_params.go b/controllers/dspipeline_params.go
index 6b2c0b5e1..2e45c8932 100644
--- a/controllers/dspipeline_params.go
+++ b/controllers/dspipeline_params.go
@@ -504,6 +504,9 @@ func (p *DSPAParams) SetupMLMD(dsp *dspa.DataSciencePipelinesApplication, log lo
 			log.Info("MLMD not specified, but is a required component for V2 Pipelines. Including MLMD with default specs.")
 			p.MLMD = &dspa.MLMD{
 				Deploy: true,
+				Envoy: &dspa.Envoy{
+					DeployRoute: true,
+				},
 			}
 		} else if !p.MLMD.Deploy {
 			return fmt.Errorf(MlmdIsRequiredInV2Msg)
@@ -515,7 +518,8 @@ func (p *DSPAParams) SetupMLMD(dsp *dspa.DataSciencePipelinesApplication, log lo
 
 		if p.MLMD.Envoy == nil {
 			p.MLMD.Envoy = &dspa.Envoy{
-				Image: config.GetStringConfigWithDefault(MlmdEnvoyImagePath, config.DefaultImageValue),
+				Image:       config.GetStringConfigWithDefault(MlmdEnvoyImagePath, config.DefaultImageValue),
+				DeployRoute: true,
 			}
 		}
 		if p.MLMD.GRPC == nil {
diff --git a/tests/resources/dspa-external-lite.yaml b/tests/resources/dspa-external-lite.yaml
index 0a0679514..6b0645119 100644
--- a/tests/resources/dspa-external-lite.yaml
+++ b/tests/resources/dspa-external-lite.yaml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ spec:
     deploy: true
     envoy:
       image: quay.io/maistra/proxyv2-ubi8:2.5.0
+      deployRoute: false
       resources:
         limits:
           cpu: 20m
diff --git a/tests/resources/dspa-lite.yaml b/tests/resources/dspa-lite.yaml
index 483603caf..f09e480da 100644
--- a/tests/resources/dspa-lite.yaml
+++ b/tests/resources/dspa-lite.yaml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ spec:
     deploy: true
     envoy:
       image: quay.io/maistra/proxyv2-ubi8:2.5.0
+      deployRoute: false
       resources:
         limits:
           cpu: 20m