diff --git a/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json b/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37c9f1fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[
+  {"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-", "value": "--override"},
+  {"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-", "value": "zookeeper.connect=zoo:2181"}
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kustomization.yaml b/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kustomization.yaml
index 4254a479..5c7ec29d 100644
--- a/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/variants/scale-3-5-nopzoo/kustomization.yaml
@@ -2,3 +2,11 @@ bases:
 - ../scale-3-5
 patchesStrategicMerge:
 - ./only-zoo-5.yaml
+patchesJson6902:
+- target:
+    group: apps
+    version: v1
+    kind: StatefulSet
+    name: kafka
+    namespace: kafka
+  path: kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
diff --git a/variants/scale-6-9/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json b/variants/scale-6-9/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37c9f1fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/scale-6-9/kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[
+  {"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-", "value": "--override"},
+  {"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-", "value": "zookeeper.connect=zoo:2181"}
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/variants/scale-6-9/kustomization.yaml b/variants/scale-6-9/kustomization.yaml
index c883c21c..bd1afdd4 100644
--- a/variants/scale-6-9/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/variants/scale-6-9/kustomization.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ patchesStrategicMerge:
 - zoo-9.yaml
 - kafka-6.yaml
 patchesJson6902:
+- target:
+    group: apps
+    version: v1
+    kind: StatefulSet
+    name: kafka
+  path: kafka-zookeeper-connect-only-zoo.json
 # The nonroot image is distroless and doesn't support a shell that the prestop hook needs
 - target:
     group: apps