diff --git a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index af4d465..fbb7300 100755
--- a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package v1
 
-import ()
-
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *Condition) DeepCopyInto(out *Condition) {
 	*out = *in
diff --git a/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/externalsecret_types.go b/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/externalsecret_types.go
index 33d1c92..650022e 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/externalsecret_types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/externalsecret_types.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	smmeta "github.com/itscontained/secret-manager/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
 // ExternalSecretSpec defines the desired state of ExternalSecret
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ type ExternalSecretSpec struct {
 	// +kubebuilder:validation:Format=any
 	// +kubebuilder:pruning:PreserveUnknownFields
 	// +optional
-	Template []byte `json:"template,omitempty"`
+	Template runtime.RawExtension `json:"template,omitempty"`
 
 	// Data is a list of references to secret values.
 	// +optional
diff --git a/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 2cd7b9f..61a76c9 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/secretmanager/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -199,11 +199,7 @@ func (in *ExternalSecretList) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
 func (in *ExternalSecretSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *ExternalSecretSpec) {
 	*out = *in
 	out.StoreRef = in.StoreRef
-	if in.Template != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Template, &out.Template
-		*out = make([]byte, len(*in))
-		copy(*out, *in)
-	}
+	in.Template.DeepCopyInto(&out.Template)
 	if in.Data != nil {
 		in, out := &in.Data, &out.Data
 		*out = make([]KeyReference, len(*in))
diff --git a/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller.go b/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller.go
index 042ceef..1a1e89f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func (r *ExternalSecretReconciler) Reconcile(req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Result, err
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", errGetSecretDataFailed, err)
 		}
 
-		if extSecret.Spec.Template != nil {
+		if extSecret.Spec.Template.Raw != nil {
 			err = r.templateSecret(secret, extSecret.Spec.Template)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", errTemplateFailed, err)
@@ -202,9 +202,9 @@ func (r *ExternalSecretReconciler) getStore(ctx context.Context, extSecret *smv1
 	return secretStore, nil
 }
 
-func (r *ExternalSecretReconciler) templateSecret(secret *corev1.Secret, template []byte) error {
+func (r *ExternalSecretReconciler) templateSecret(secret *corev1.Secret, template runtime.RawExtension) error {
 	templatedSecret := &corev1.Secret{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(template, templatedSecret); err != nil {
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(template.Raw, templatedSecret); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling json: %w", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller_test.go
index 9576319..2dfa180 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/externalsecret/controller_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
@@ -377,7 +378,9 @@ var _ = Describe("ExternalSecrets Controller", func() {
 						},
 					},
 				},
-				Template: templateObjectBytes,
+				Template: runtime.RawExtension{
+					Raw: templateObjectBytes,
+				},
 			}
 
 			key := types.NamespacedName{
@@ -463,7 +466,9 @@ var _ = Describe("ExternalSecrets Controller", func() {
 						},
 					},
 				},
-				Template: templateObjectBytes,
+				Template: runtime.RawExtension{
+					Raw: templateObjectBytes,
+				},
 			}
 
 			key := types.NamespacedName{