diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/gha-run.sh b/tests/integration/kubernetes/gha-run.sh
index d6d58ac370f2..eba29008107e 100755
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/gha-run.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/gha-run.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ function deploy_kata() {
     sed -i -e "s|quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:latest|${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/${DOCKER_REPO}:${DOCKER_TAG}|g" "${tools_dir}/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml"
 
     # Enable debug for Kata Containers
-    yq write -i "${tools_dir}/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml" 'spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[1].value' "\"yes\""
+    yq write -i "${tools_dir}/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml" 'spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[1].value' --tag '!!str' "true"
 
     if [ "${KATA_HOST_OS}" = "cbl-mariner" ]; then
         yq write -i "${tools_dir}/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml" 'spec.template.spec.containers[0].env[+].name' "HOST_OS"
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
index e8b23e60fa97..9ef9e04faa14 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ spec:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: spec.nodeName
         - name: DEBUG
-          value: "no"
+          value: "false"
         - name: SHIMS
           value: "clh dragonball fc qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx qemu"
         - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
index 0c688b8c86d4..ccab22c3447f 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ spec:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: spec.nodeName
         - name: DEBUG
-          value: "no"
+          value: "false"
         - name: SHIMS
           value: "clh dragonball fc qemu qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx"
         - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
index ae39cd6a94e7..05f1af213815 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ function install_artifacts() {
 		chmod +x /opt/kata/runtime-rs/bin/*
 
 	# Allow enabling debug for Kata Containers
-	if [[ "${DEBUG:-"no"}" == "yes" ]]; then
+	if [[ "${DEBUG}" == "true" ]]; then
 		config_path="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers/"
 		for shim in "${shims[@]}"; do
 			sed -i -e 's/^#\(enable_debug\).*=.*$/\1 = true/g' "${config_path}/configuration-${shim}.toml"
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ function configure_crio() {
 	done
 
 
-	if [ "${DEBUG:-"no"}" == "yes" ]; then
+	if [ "${DEBUG}" == "true" ]; then
 		cat <<EOF | tee -a $crio_drop_in_conf_file_debug
 [crio]
 log_level = "debug"
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ EOF
 EOF
 	fi
 
-	if [ "${DEBUG:-"no"}" == "yes" ]; then
+	if [ "${DEBUG}" == "true" ]; then
 		if grep -q "\[debug\]" $containerd_conf_file; then
 			sed -i 's/level.*/level = \"debug\"/' $containerd_conf_file
 		else
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ function cleanup_cri_runtime() {
 
 function cleanup_crio() {
 	rm $crio_drop_in_conf_file
-	if [[ "${DEBUG:-"no"}" == "yes" ]]; then
+	if [[ "${DEBUG}" == "true" ]]; then
 		rm $crio_drop_in_conf_file_debug
 	fi
 }