diff --git a/controllers/object_controls.go b/controllers/object_controls.go
index 07114c39f..1697e6d30 100644
--- a/controllers/object_controls.go
+++ b/controllers/object_controls.go
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ const (
 	MPSRootEnvName = "MPS_ROOT"
 	// DefaultMPSRoot is the default MPS root path on the host
 	DefaultMPSRoot = "/run/nvidia/mps"
+	// NvidiaRuntimeSetAsDefaultEnvName is the name of the toolkit container env for configuring NVIDIA Container Runtime as the default runtime
+	NvidiaRuntimeSetAsDefaultEnvName = "NVIDIA_RUNTIME_SET_AS_DEFAULT"
 )
 
 // ContainerProbe defines container probe types
@@ -824,7 +826,7 @@ func TransformGPUDiscoveryPlugin(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPol
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	// update env required for MIG support
 	applyMIGConfiguration(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), config.MIG.Strategy)
@@ -1125,6 +1127,10 @@ func TransformToolkit(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpec, n
 		if config.CDI.IsDefault() {
 			setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), NvidiaCtrRuntimeModeEnvName, "cdi")
 		}
+		// do not set 'nvidia' as the default runtime on OpenShift
+		if n.openshift != "" {
+			setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), NvidiaRuntimeSetAsDefaultEnvName, "false")
+		}
 	}
 
 	// set install directory for the toolkit
@@ -1270,7 +1276,7 @@ func TransformDevicePlugin(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpe
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	// update env required for MIG support
 	applyMIGConfiguration(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), config.MIG.Strategy)
@@ -1279,7 +1285,12 @@ func TransformDevicePlugin(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpe
 	if config.CDI.IsEnabled() {
 		setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), CDIEnabledEnvName, "true")
 		setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), DeviceListStrategyEnvName, "envvar,cdi-annotations")
-		setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), CDIAnnotationPrefixEnvName, "nvidia.cdi.k8s.io/")
+		// for OpenShift, use native-CDI support in CRI-O as the 'nvidia' runtime will not be configured as the default runtime
+		cdiAnnotationPrefix := "nvidia.cdi.k8s.io/"
+		if n.openshift != "" {
+			cdiAnnotationPrefix = "cdi.k8s.io/"
+		}
+		setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), CDIAnnotationPrefixEnvName, cdiAnnotationPrefix)
 		if config.Toolkit.IsEnabled() {
 			setContainerEnv(&(obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0]), NvidiaCTKPathEnvName, filepath.Join(config.Toolkit.InstallDir, "toolkit/nvidia-ctk"))
 		}
@@ -1472,7 +1483,7 @@ func TransformDCGMExporter(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpe
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	// mount configmap for custom metrics if provided by user
 	if config.DCGMExporter.MetricsConfig != nil && config.DCGMExporter.MetricsConfig.Name != "" {
@@ -1589,7 +1600,7 @@ func TransformDCGM(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpec, n Clu
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -1639,7 +1650,7 @@ func TransformMIGManager(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpec,
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	// set ConfigMap name for "mig-parted-config" Volume
 	for i, vol := range obj.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes {
@@ -1948,7 +1959,7 @@ func TransformValidator(obj *appsv1.DaemonSet, config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpec,
 	}
 
 	// set RuntimeClass for supported runtimes
-	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n.runtime, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
+	setRuntimeClass(&obj.Spec.Template.Spec, n, config.Operator.RuntimeClass)
 
 	var validatorErr error
 	// apply changes for individual component validators(initContainers)
@@ -2280,13 +2291,18 @@ func getRuntimeClass(config *gpuv1.ClusterPolicySpec) string {
 	return DefaultRuntimeClass
 }
 
-func setRuntimeClass(podSpec *corev1.PodSpec, runtime gpuv1.Runtime, runtimeClass string) {
-	if runtime == gpuv1.Containerd {
-		if runtimeClass == "" {
-			runtimeClass = DefaultRuntimeClass
-		}
-		podSpec.RuntimeClassName = &runtimeClass
+// setRuntimeClass sets the runtimeClass for a pod, unless CRI-O is the container runtime
+// being used and CDI is not enabled. In this case, an OCI hook is used and the nvidia
+// runtime is not configured.
+func setRuntimeClass(podSpec *corev1.PodSpec, n ClusterPolicyController, runtimeClass string) {
+	if n.runtime == gpuv1.CRIO && !n.singleton.Spec.CDI.IsEnabled() {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if runtimeClass == "" {
+		runtimeClass = DefaultRuntimeClass
 	}
+	podSpec.RuntimeClassName = &runtimeClass
 }
 
 func setContainerProbe(container *corev1.Container, probe *gpuv1.ContainerProbeSpec, probeType ContainerProbe) {