diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/api.go b/api/v1alpha1/api.go
index 36453e7c0..e022ae201 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/api.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/api.go
@@ -261,13 +261,6 @@ type AIGatewayFilterConfigExternalProcess struct {
 	//
 	// +optional
 	Resources *corev1.ResourceRequirements `json:"resources,omitempty"`
-	// Image is the image of the external process container.
-	//
-	// This defaults to the ghcr.io/envoyproxy/ai-gateway/extproc:${VERSION} image where
-	// ${VERSION} is the version of the Envoy AI Gateway controller.
-	//
-	// +optional
-	Image string `json:"image,omitempty"`
 	// TODO: maybe adding the option not to deploy the external process filter and let the user deploy it manually?
 	// 	Not sure if it is worth it as we are migrating to dynamic modules.
 }
diff --git a/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route.go b/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route.go
index 0b7da469e..90c14220c 100644
--- a/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route.go
+++ b/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route.go
@@ -293,7 +293,4 @@ func applyExtProcDeploymentConfigUpdate(d *appsv1.DeploymentSpec, filterConfig *
 	if replica := extProc.Replicas; replica != nil {
 		d.Replicas = replica
 	}
-	if image := extProc.Image; image != "" {
-		d.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image = image
-	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route_test.go b/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route_test.go
index 6b5e34500..e3bb0d147 100644
--- a/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/ai_gateway_route_test.go
@@ -178,13 +178,11 @@ func Test_applyExtProcDeploymentConfigUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			ExternalProcess: &aigv1a1.AIGatewayFilterConfigExternalProcess{
 				Resources: &req,
 				Replicas:  ptr.To[int32](123),
-				Image:     "some-image",
 			},
 		},
 		)
 		require.Equal(t, req, dep.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Resources)
 		require.Equal(t, int32(123), *dep.Replicas)
-		require.Equal(t, "some-image", dep.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image)
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/crds/aigateway.envoyproxy.io_aigatewayroutes.yaml b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/crds/aigateway.envoyproxy.io_aigatewayroutes.yaml
index 5592212ca..eb3ecb71f 100644
--- a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/crds/aigateway.envoyproxy.io_aigatewayroutes.yaml
+++ b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/crds/aigateway.envoyproxy.io_aigatewayroutes.yaml
@@ -66,13 +66,6 @@ spec:
                       ExternalProcess is the configuration for the external process filter.
                       This is optional, and if not set, the default values of Deployment spec will be used.
                     properties:
-                      image:
-                        description: |-
-                          Image is the image of the external process container.
-
-                          This defaults to the ghcr.io/envoyproxy/ai-gateway/extproc:${VERSION} image where
-                          ${VERSION} is the version of the Envoy AI Gateway controller.
-                        type: string
                       replicas:
                         description: Replicas is the number of desired pods of the
                           external process deployment.
diff --git a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/templates/deployment.yaml b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/templates/deployment.yaml
index c13f6813c..c0817e539 100644
--- a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ spec:
             - containerPort: 9090
           args:
             - -zap-log-level={{ .Values.controller.logLevel }}
+            - --extprocImage={{ .Values.extProcImage.repository }}:{{ .Values.extProcImage.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}
           livenessProbe:
             grpc:
               port: 1063
diff --git a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/values.yaml b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/values.yaml
index eda3f9b33..d096adba1 100644
--- a/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/values.yaml
+++ b/manifests/charts/ai-gateway-helm/values.yaml
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 # Default values for ai-gateway-helm.
-# This is a YAML-formatted file.
-# Declare variables to be passed into your templates.
 
-# ExtProc resource will be configured at CRD level, so we only need to specify the image here.
-# TODO: this also might be moved to a CRD level as in https://github.com/envoyproxy/ai-gateway/issues/82
 extProcImage:
   repository: ghcr.io/envoyproxy/ai-gateway/extproc
   # Overrides the image tag whose default is the chart appVersion.