diff --git a/.helm/starter/Chart.yaml b/.helm/starter/Chart.yaml
index efc98d55..929291e8 100644
--- a/.helm/starter/Chart.yaml
+++ b/.helm/starter/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 ---
 apiVersion: v2
-appVersion: 0.1.0
-description: A Helm chart for Kubernetes
-name: starter
+description: The community-supported AWX Operator Helm Chart
+name: awx-operator
 type: application
+# the current version of this helm chart
 version: 0.1.0
+# The version of the awx-operator to install
+appVersion: 2.19.1
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bb5febe1..3d9615ac 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,12 +11,13 @@ endif
 
 # Helm variables
 CHART_NAME ?= awx-operator
-CHART_DESCRIPTION ?= A Helm chart for the AWX Operator
 CHART_OWNER ?= $(GH_REPO_OWNER)
 CHART_REPO ?= awx-operator
 CHART_BRANCH ?= gh-pages
 CHART_DIR ?= gh-pages
 CHART_INDEX ?= index.yaml
+# use python3 if python isn't in the path
+PYTHON ?= $(shell which python >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo python || echo python3)
 
 .PHONY: kustomize
 KUSTOMIZE = $(shell pwd)/bin/kustomize
@@ -67,6 +68,10 @@ YQ = $(shell which yq)
 endif
 endif
 
+.PHONY: chart-version
+chart-version: yq
+CHART_VERSION = $(shell cat .helm/starter/Chart.yaml | $(YQ) '.version')
+
 .PHONY: helm
 HELM = $(shell pwd)/bin/helm
 helm: ## Download helm locally if necessary.
@@ -111,7 +116,7 @@ helm-chart: helm-chart-generate
 helm-chart-generate: kustomize helm kubectl-slice yq charts
 
 	@echo "== Clone the AWX Operator repository =="
-	python clone-awx-operator.py
+	$(PYTHON) clone-awx-operator.py
 
 	@echo "== KUSTOMIZE: Set image and chart label =="
 	cd config/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${IMG}
@@ -120,13 +125,11 @@ helm-chart-generate: kustomize helm kubectl-slice yq charts
 
 	@echo "== Gather Helm Chart Metadata =="
 	# remove the existing chart if it exists
+	# edit and copy the Chart.yaml ourselves since helm doesn't do it: https://github.com/helm/helm/issues/9551#issuecomment-811217822
 	rm -rf charts/$(CHART_NAME)
-	# create new chart metadata in Chart.yaml
 	cd charts && \
 		$(HELM) create $(CHART_NAME) --starter $(shell pwd)/.helm/starter ;\
-		$(YQ) -i '.version = "$(VERSION)"' $(CHART_NAME)/Chart.yaml ;\
-		$(YQ) -i '.appVersion = "$(VERSION)" | .appVersion style="double"' $(CHART_NAME)/Chart.yaml ;\
-		$(YQ) -i '.description = "$(CHART_DESCRIPTION)"' $(CHART_NAME)/Chart.yaml ;\
+		$(YQ) '.name = "$(CHART_NAME)"' $(shell pwd)/.helm/starter/Chart.yaml > $(CHART_NAME)/Chart.yaml;\
 
 	@echo "Generated chart metadata:"
 	@cat charts/$(CHART_NAME)/Chart.yaml
@@ -174,17 +177,17 @@ helm-chart-generate: kustomize helm kubectl-slice yq charts
 	rm -rf charts/$(CHART_NAME)/raw-files
 
 	# create and populate NOTES.txt
-	@echo "AWX Operator installed with Helm Chart version $(VERSION)" > charts/$(CHART_NAME)/templates/NOTES.txt
+	@echo "AWX Operator installed with Helm Chart version {{ .Chart.Version }}" > charts/$(CHART_NAME)/templates/NOTES.txt
 
-	@echo "Helm chart successfully configured for $(CHART_NAME) version $(VERSION)"
+	@echo "Helm chart successfully configured for $(CHART_NAME)"
 
 
 .PHONY: helm-package
-helm-package: helm-chart
+helm-package: helm-chart chart-version
 	@echo "== Package Current Chart Version =="
 	mkdir -p .cr-release-packages
 	# package the chart and put it in .cr-release-packages dir
-	$(HELM) package ./charts/$(CHART_NAME) -d .cr-release-packages/$(VERSION)
+	$(HELM) package ./charts/$(CHART_NAME) -d .cr-release-packages/$(CHART_VERSION)
 
 # List all tags oldest to newest.
 TAGS := $(shell git ls-remote --tags --sort=version:refname --refs -q | cut -d/ -f3)
diff --git a/clone-awx-operator.py b/clone-awx-operator.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 065afce4..fcfcb3aa
--- a/clone-awx-operator.py
+++ b/clone-awx-operator.py
@@ -14,10 +14,28 @@
 import sys
 import tempfile
 
-DEFAULT_BRANCH = "devel"
 DEFAULT_AWX_OPERATOR_REPO = "https://github.com/ansible/awx-operator"
 
 
+# get the appVersion configured in Chart.yaml
+def get_app_version():
+    try:
+        chart_yaml_path = "./.helm/starter/Chart.yaml"
+        with open(chart_yaml_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as chart:
+            for line in chart:
+                if line.startswith("appVersion:"):
+                    result = line.split(":", 1)
+                    if len(result) != 2:
+                        raise KeyError("Malformed appVersion in Chart.yaml")
+                    app_version = result[1].strip()
+                    if not app_version:
+                        raise KeyError("No appVersion value found")
+                    return app_version
+    except FileNotFoundError as e:
+        raise FileNotFoundError("Failed to open Chart.yaml") from e
+    raise KeyError("Could not find appVersion in Chart.yaml")
+
+
 @dataclasses.dataclass()
 class Args:
     branch: str | None
@@ -30,8 +48,8 @@ def parse_args(args: list[str] | None = None) -> Args:
         "-b",
         "--branch",
         help="Set the branch of awx-operator to clone."
-        " Defaults to current branch (%(default)s)",
-        default=DEFAULT_BRANCH,
+        " Defaults to configured appVersion",
+        default=get_app_version(),
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--no-branch",
@@ -65,7 +83,13 @@ def main(args: Args) -> None:
     ]
 
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as temp_dir:
-        cmd: list[str] = ["git", "clone", args.repo, "--depth=1"]
+        cmd: list[str] = [
+            "git",
+            "clone",
+            args.repo,
+            "--depth=1",
+            "-c advice.detachedHead=false",
+        ]
         if args.branch is not None:
             cmd.append(f"--branch={args.branch}")
         cmd.append(temp_dir)
@@ -86,7 +110,7 @@ def main(args: Args) -> None:
 
         for keep_file in keep_files:
             src = pathlib.Path(temp_dir, keep_file)
-            if keep_file == 'Makefile':
+            if keep_file == "Makefile":
                 dst = pathlib.Path.cwd() / "Makefile.awx-operator"
             else:
                 dst = pathlib.Path.cwd() / keep_file