diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4fd58eb..22f5395 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-_bin
\ No newline at end of file
+_bin
+.idea/
+*.iml
diff --git a/modules/helm/crds.mk b/modules/helm/crds.mk
index bcc208b..2eefe69 100644
--- a/modules/helm/crds.mk
+++ b/modules/helm/crds.mk
@@ -37,29 +37,34 @@ ifeq ($(HOST_OS),darwin)
 	sed_inplace := sed -i ''
 endif
 
+crds_dir ?= deploy/crds
+crds_dir_readme := $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))/crds_dir.README.md
+
+$(crds_dir):
+	mkdir -p $@
+
+$(crds_dir)/README.md: $(crds_dir_readme) | $(crds_dir)
+	cp $< $@
+
 .PHONY: generate-crds
 ## Generate CRD manifests.
 ## @category [shared] Generate/ Verify
 generate-crds: | $(NEEDS_CONTROLLER-GEN) $(NEEDS_YQ)
-	$(eval crds_gen_temp := $(bin_dir)/scratch/crds)
 	$(eval directories := $(shell ls -d */ | grep -v -e 'make' $(shell git check-ignore -- * | sed 's/^/-e /')))
 
-	rm -rf $(crds_gen_temp)
-	mkdir -p $(crds_gen_temp)
-
 	$(CONTROLLER-GEN) crd \
 		$(directories:%=paths=./%...) \
-		output:crd:artifacts:config=$(crds_gen_temp)
+		output:crd:artifacts:config=$(crds_dir)
 
 	echo "Updating CRDs with helm templating, writing to $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates"
 
-	@for i in $$(ls $(crds_gen_temp)); do \
-		crd_name=$$($(YQ) eval '.metadata.name' $(crds_gen_temp)/$$i); \
+	@for i in $$(basename $(crds_dir)/*.yaml); do \
+		crd_name=$$($(YQ) eval '.metadata.name' $(crds_dir)/$$i); \
 		cat $(crd_template_header) > $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
 		echo "" >> $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
 		$(sed_inplace) "s/REPLACE_CRD_NAME/$$crd_name/g" $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
 		$(sed_inplace) "s/REPLACE_LABELS_TEMPLATE/$(helm_labels_template_name)/g" $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
-		$(YQ) -I2 '{"spec": .spec}' $(crds_gen_temp)/$$i >> $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
+		$(YQ) -I2 '{"spec": .spec}' $(crds_dir)/$$i >> $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
 		cat $(crd_template_footer) >> $(helm_chart_source_dir)/templates/crd-$$i; \
 	done
 
diff --git a/modules/helm/crds_dir.README.md b/modules/helm/crds_dir.README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fba79fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/helm/crds_dir.README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# CRDs source directory
+
+> **WARNING**: if you are an end-user, you probably should NOT need to use the
+> files in this directory. These files are for **reference, development and testing purposes only**.
+
+This directory contains 'source code' used to build our CustomResourceDefinition
+resources consumed by our officially supported deployment methods (e.g. the Helm chart).
+The CRDs in this directory might be incomplete, and should **NOT** be used to provision the operator.
\ No newline at end of file