Missing ListenerSet CRDs in v3.2.1 breaks Update from v3.1.0 when Gateway API not enabled

[Llois41]

Bug Description
Upgrading from v3.1.0 to v3.2.1 fails because Container throws following error:

{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-07T11:05:46Z","logger":"setup","msg":"problem running manager","error":"failed to wait for gateway.k8s.aws/alb caches to sync kind source: *v1.ListenerSet: timed out waiting for cache to be synced for Kind *v1.ListenerSet"}

Steps to Reproduce
Install v3.1.0, only install https://github.com/aws/eks-charts/blob/master/stable/aws-load-balancer-controller/crds/crds.yaml and then upgrade to v3.2.1.

Expected Behavior
Upgrade works, Gateway API is not used therefore no CRDs should be needed

Actual Behavior
Above error is thrown, Pod is CrashLooping.

Regression
3.1.0 was working without need to install Gateway API specific CRDs if not using it.

Current Workarounds
Rollback to v3.1.0

Environment

• AWS Load Balancer controller version: 3.2.1
• Kubernetes version: 1.34
• Using EKS (yes/no), if so version?: 1.34
• Using Service or Ingress:
• AWS region:
• How was the aws-load-balancer-controller installed:
  • HelmRelease install via Flux, CRDs were updated before same mechanism
• Current state of the Controller configuration:

  - Containers:
   aws-load-balancer-controller:
    Image:       <registry>/eks/aws-load-balancer-controller:v3.2.1
    Ports:       9443/TCP (webhook-server), 8080/TCP (metrics-server)
    Host Ports:  0/TCP (webhook-server), 0/TCP (metrics-server)
    Args:
      --cluster-name=<cluster-name>
      --ingress-class=alb
      --aws-vpc-id=<vpc-id>
      --enable-shield=false
      --enable-waf=false
      --enable-wafv2=false

Additional Context
There's no direct mention of Gateway API Features being enabled in v3.2 by default, only the indirect reference to the feature gates which did not change since v3.1 regarding the Gateway API Features.

Maybe I'm missing something but I can't trace what's happeing through the changelog.
Thanks for having a look at it!

[zac-nixon]

We moved to auto-detecting that you have the Gateway API enabled, so in your case it looks like you have the standard Gateway API installation that is pre-1.5.

To unblock you immediately, you could manually set the feature flags to false. For our next release, we can make ListenerSet an optional CRD, as you aren't the first person to run into issues :).

[motoki317]

Also affected by this when I upgraded helm chart from v3.1.0 to v3.2.1.
My EKS cluster does not have Gateway CRDs installed (because we do not use them).

The controller pod repeatedly logs "if kind is a CRD,..." log before finally quitting with the "timed out" error:

{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:17:31Z","logger":"controller-runtime.source.Kind","msg":"if kind is a CRD, it should be installed before calling Start","kind":"ListenerSet.gateway.networking.k8s.io","error":"no matches for kind \"ListenerSet\" in version \"gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1\""}
{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:17:41Z","logger":"controller-runtime.source.Kind","msg":"if kind is a CRD, it should be installed before calling Start","kind":"ListenerSet.gateway.networking.k8s.io","error":"no matches for kind \"ListenerSet\" in version \"gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1\""}
{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:17:51Z","logger":"controller-runtime.source.Kind","msg":"if kind is a CRD, it should be installed before calling Start","kind":"ListenerSet.gateway.networking.k8s.io","error":"no matches for kind \"ListenerSet\" in version \"gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1\""}
{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:18:01Z","logger":"controller-runtime.source.Kind","msg":"if kind is a CRD, it should be installed before calling Start","kind":"ListenerSet.gateway.networking.k8s.io","error":"no matches for kind \"ListenerSet\" in version \"gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1\""}
{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:18:11Z","logger":"controller-runtime.source.Kind","msg":"if kind is a CRD, it should be installed before calling Start","kind":"ListenerSet.gateway.networking.k8s.io","error":"no matches for kind \"ListenerSet\" in version \"gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1\""}
{"level":"error","ts":"2026-04-08T02:18:21Z","msg":"Could not wait for Cache to sync","controller":"gateway.k8s.aws/alb","source":"kind source: *v1.ListenerSet","error":"failed to wait for gateway.k8s.aws/alb caches to sync kind source: *v1.ListenerSet: timed out waiting for cache to be synced for Kind *v1.ListenerSet"}

I'm not sure which feature gate that I should disable.
Does aws-load-balancer-controller now require you to install Gateway CRDs by default? If so, I think it's best to document this behavior, or at least document how to disable this feature.

[shraddhabang]

You can disable these feature flags --feature-gates=NLBGatewayAPI=false,ALBGatewayAPI=false to get unblocked.
ref: https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/v3.2/guide/gateway/gateway/#configuration