diff --git a/config/config.msft.yaml b/config/config.msft.yaml
index de23737e4..fe2d5bdba 100644
--- a/config/config.msft.yaml
+++ b/config/config.msft.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ defaults:
     etcd:
       kvName: arohcp-etcd-{{ .ctx.regionShort }}
       kvSoftDelete: true
+    istio:
+      currentVersion: "asm-1-22"
+      newVersion: ""
+      tag: "prod-stable"
+      istioctl:
+        version: "1.23.1"
+        url: "https://istio.io/downloadIstio"
 
   # MGMT cluster specifics
   mgmt:
diff --git a/config/config.schema.json b/config/config.schema.json
index f5b6c6345..6d7642fe5 100644
--- a/config/config.schema.json
+++ b/config/config.schema.json
@@ -528,6 +528,27 @@
               "kvSoftDelete"
             ]
           },
+          "istio": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "currentVersion": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "newVersion": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "tag": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "istioctl": {
+              "type": "object",
+              "version": {
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "url": {
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            }
+          },
           "userAgentPool": {
             "type": "object",
             "properties": {