diff --git a/examples/ovs-cni.yml b/examples/ovs-cni.yml
index d127961c..02f3ca90 100644
--- a/examples/ovs-cni.yml
+++ b/examples/ovs-cni.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ spec:
         volumeMounts:
         - name: cnibin
           mountPath: /host/opt/cni/bin
+      priorityClassName: system-node-critical
       containers:
       - name: ovs-cni-marker
         image: quay.io/kubevirt/ovs-cni-marker:latest
diff --git a/manifests/ovs-cni.yml.in b/manifests/ovs-cni.yml.in
index 33b354ef..e73c453f 100644
--- a/manifests/ovs-cni.yml.in
+++ b/manifests/ovs-cni.yml.in
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ spec:
         volumeMounts:
         - name: cnibin
           mountPath: /host${CNI_MOUNT_PATH}
+      priorityClassName: system-node-critical
       containers:
       - name: ovs-cni-marker
         image: ${OVS_CNI_MARKER_IMAGE_REPO}/${OVS_CNI_MARKER_IMAGE_NAME}:${OVS_CNI_MARKER_IMAGE_VERSION}