diff --git a/config/samples/aigateway.yaml b/config/samples/aigateway.yaml
index 970b38ef5..5b10f6928 100644
--- a/config/samples/aigateway.yaml
+++ b/config/samples/aigateway.yaml
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ spec:
         spec:
           containers:
           - name: controller
-            image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1.2
+            image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1
             env:
             - name: CONTROLLER_LOG_LEVEL
               value: debug
diff --git a/config/samples/controlplane.yaml b/config/samples/controlplane.yaml
index 62da74695..ed6967376 100644
--- a/config/samples/controlplane.yaml
+++ b/config/samples/controlplane.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ spec:
       spec:
         containers:
         - name: controller
-          image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1.2
+          image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1
           readinessProbe:
             initialDelaySeconds: 1
             periodSeconds: 3
diff --git a/config/samples/gateway-httproute.yaml b/config/samples/gateway-httproute.yaml
index 12af2be33..5e60b520b 100644
--- a/config/samples/gateway-httproute.yaml
+++ b/config/samples/gateway-httproute.yaml
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ spec:
         spec:
           containers:
           - name: controller
-            image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1.2
+            image: kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller:3.1
             readinessProbe:
               initialDelaySeconds: 1
               periodSeconds: 1
diff --git a/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/main.go b/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/main.go
index 81dc3f38b..22962d14b 100644
--- a/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/main.go
+++ b/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/main.go
@@ -7,12 +7,13 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"text/template"
 
-	"github.com/kong/gateway-operator/hack/generators/kic"
-	kicversions "github.com/kong/gateway-operator/internal/versions"
 	"github.com/samber/lo"
 	admregv1 "k8s.io/api/admissionregistration/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/yaml"
 	gatewayv1 "sigs.k8s.io/gateway-api/apis/v1"
+
+	"github.com/kong/gateway-operator/hack/generators/kic"
+	kicversions "github.com/kong/gateway-operator/internal/versions"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -48,16 +49,7 @@ func generateHelpersForAllConfiguredVersions() {
 		}
 
 		// Render template.
-		tpl, err := template.New("tpl").Funcs(map[string]any{
-			// Inject a function that filters out Delete operations from the list of operations.
-			// It's used to make sure we do not generate webhooks that handle DELETE operations.
-			// We will be able to drop this workaround once we release KIC 3.1.2 or 3.2.0.
-			"withoutDeletes": func(operations []admregv1.OperationType) []admregv1.OperationType {
-				return lo.Reject(operations, func(operation admregv1.OperationType, _ int) bool {
-					return operation == admregv1.Delete
-				})
-			},
-		}).Parse(generateValidatingWebhookConfigurationForKICVersionTemplate)
+		tpl, err := template.New("tpl").Parse(generateValidatingWebhookConfigurationForKICVersionTemplate)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("Failed to parse 'generateValidatingWebhookConfigurationForKICTemplate' template: %s", err)
 		}
@@ -85,7 +77,7 @@ func generateHelpersForAllConfiguredVersions() {
 
 		// Write the output to a file.
 		outPath := fmt.Sprintf(validatingWebhookConfigurationGeneratorForVersionOutputPath, sanitizedConstraint)
-		if err := os.WriteFile(outPath, buf.Bytes(), 0644); err != nil {
+		if err := os.WriteFile(outPath, buf.Bytes(), 0o644); err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("Failed to write output to %s: %s", outPath, err)
 		}
 		log.Printf("Successfully generated %s\n", outPath)
@@ -114,7 +106,7 @@ func generateMasterHelper() {
 
 	// Write the output to a file.
 	outPath := validatingWebhookConfigurationGeneratorMasterOutputPath
-	if err := os.WriteFile(outPath, buf.Bytes(), 0644); err != nil {
+	if err := os.WriteFile(outPath, buf.Bytes(), 0o644); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Failed to write output to %s: %s", outPath, err)
 	}
 	log.Printf("Successfully generated %s\n", outPath)
diff --git a/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/templates.go b/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/templates.go
index b250fb21e..885bcadce 100644
--- a/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/templates.go
+++ b/hack/generators/kic/webhook-config-generator/templates.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func GenerateValidatingWebhookConfigurationForKIC_{{ .SanitizedVersionConstraint
 							},
 						},
 						Operations: []admregv1.OperationType{
-							{{- range (withoutDeletes .Operations) }}
+							{{- range .Operations }}
 							"{{ . }}",
 							{{- end }}
 						},
diff --git a/internal/versions/controlplane.go b/internal/versions/controlplane.go
index 5209ba46f..99bb5ccb2 100644
--- a/internal/versions/controlplane.go
+++ b/internal/versions/controlplane.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ const (
 	// and those tests create KIC's URLs for things like roles or CRDs.
 	// Since KIC only defines the full tags in its repo (as expected) we cannot use
 	// a partial version here, as it would not match KIC's tag.
-	DefaultControlPlaneVersion = "3.1.2"
+	DefaultControlPlaneVersion = "3.1.3"
 )
 
 // minimumControlPlaneVersion indicates the bare minimum version of the
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ var minimumControlPlaneVersion = semver.MustParse("3.1.2")
 // the release 5.0, a new entry '">=5.0": "5.0"' should be added to this map, and the previous most
 // updated entry should be limited to "<5.0".
 var ManifestsVersionsForKICVersions = map[string]semver.Version{
-	">=3.1": semver.MustParse("3.1.2"),
+	">=3.1": semver.MustParse("3.1.3"),
 }
 
 // IsControlPlaneImageVersionSupported is a helper intended to validate the