diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9841cb9d9f4..1047bc25624 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ SHELL :=/bin/bash -euEo pipefail -O inherit_errexit
 
 comma :=,
 
-IMAGE_TAG ?= latest
+IMAGE_TAG ?= 1.8
 IMAGE_REF ?= docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:$(IMAGE_TAG)
 
 MAKE_REQUIRED_MIN_VERSION:=4.2 # for SHELLSTATUS
diff --git a/deploy/manager/dev/50_controller_deployment.yaml b/deploy/manager/dev/50_controller_deployment.yaml
index 2dae01f3049..6c8ab0010e1 100644
--- a/deploy/manager/dev/50_controller_deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/manager/dev/50_controller_deployment.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: scylla-manager-controller
       containers:
       - name: scylla-manager-controller
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         - name: POD_NAME
diff --git a/deploy/manager/prod/50_controller_deployment.yaml b/deploy/manager/prod/50_controller_deployment.yaml
index 2dae01f3049..6c8ab0010e1 100644
--- a/deploy/manager/prod/50_controller_deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/manager/prod/50_controller_deployment.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: scylla-manager-controller
       containers:
       - name: scylla-manager-controller
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         - name: POD_NAME
diff --git a/deploy/operator/50_operator.deployment.yaml b/deploy/operator/50_operator.deployment.yaml
index 8543863de0d..3ac097cf2fe 100644
--- a/deploy/operator/50_operator.deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/operator/50_operator.deployment.yaml
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: scylla-operator
       containers:
       - name: scylla-operator
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         - name: SCYLLA_OPERATOR_IMAGE
-          value: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+          value: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         args:
         - operator
         - --loglevel=2
diff --git a/deploy/operator/50_webhookserver.deployment.yaml b/deploy/operator/50_webhookserver.deployment.yaml
index 49f7a1adec0..23b2ea448fb 100644
--- a/deploy/operator/50_webhookserver.deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/operator/50_webhookserver.deployment.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: "webhook-server"
       containers:
       - name: webhook-server
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         args:
         - run-webhook-server
diff --git a/examples/common/manager.yaml b/examples/common/manager.yaml
index b609d65296a..8e3e327a188 100644
--- a/examples/common/manager.yaml
+++ b/examples/common/manager.yaml
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: scylla-manager-controller
       containers:
       - name: scylla-manager-controller
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         - name: POD_NAME
diff --git a/examples/common/operator.yaml b/examples/common/operator.yaml
index 2d4a430b632..03dbad9fd2b 100644
--- a/examples/common/operator.yaml
+++ b/examples/common/operator.yaml
@@ -2640,11 +2640,11 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: scylla-operator
       containers:
       - name: scylla-operator
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         env:
         - name: SCYLLA_OPERATOR_IMAGE
-          value: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+          value: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         args:
         - operator
         - --loglevel=2
@@ -2690,7 +2690,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: "webhook-server"
       containers:
       - name: webhook-server
-        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+        image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         args:
         - run-webhook-server
diff --git a/examples/gke/xfs-formatter-daemonset.yaml b/examples/gke/xfs-formatter-daemonset.yaml
index e21572ce4be..a737348d124 100644
--- a/examples/gke/xfs-formatter-daemonset.yaml
+++ b/examples/gke/xfs-formatter-daemonset.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
           effect: NoSchedule
       containers:
         - name: xfs-formatter
-          image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:latest
+          image: docker.io/scylladb/scylla-operator:1.8
           securityContext:
             privileged: true
           command:
diff --git a/helm/scylla-manager/Chart.yaml b/helm/scylla-manager/Chart.yaml
index 293f23b819a..fff7a9de3c0 100644
--- a/helm/scylla-manager/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/scylla-manager/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: scylla-manager
 description: Scylla Manager automates database operations.
 version: 0.0.0 # overwritten during publishing
-appVersion: latest # overwritten during publishing
+appVersion: "1.8" # overwritten during publishing
 dependencies:
   - name: scylla
     version: 1.0.0
diff --git a/helm/scylla-operator/Chart.yaml b/helm/scylla-operator/Chart.yaml
index 4e05e7e70e8..451df1f93ad 100644
--- a/helm/scylla-operator/Chart.yaml
+++ b/helm/scylla-operator/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: scylla-operator
 description: Scylla Operator is a Kubernetes Operator for managing and automating tasks related to managing a Scylla clusters.
 version: 0.0.0 # overwritten during publishing
-appVersion: latest # overwritten during publishing
+appVersion: "1.8" # overwritten during publishing
 keywords:
   - scylla
   - scylladb