diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4663571d..ec523ae2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -111,10 +111,7 @@ kind-create: FORCE
 	  echo "Kind is not installed. Please install Kind manually."; \
 	  exit 1; \
 	}
-	@kind get clusters | grep -q $(KIND_CLUSTER) || { \
-	  printf "\e[1;36m>> kind create cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)\e[0m\n"; \
-	  kind create cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER); \
-	}
+	KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=$(KIND_CLUSTER) CONTAINER_TOOL=$(CONTAINER_TOOL) ./hack/kind-with-registry.sh
 
 # Delete the Kind cluster created for local development and testing.
 kind-delete: FORCE
@@ -123,7 +120,8 @@ kind-delete: FORCE
 	  exit 1; \
 	}
 	@printf "\e[1;36m>> kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)\e[0m\n"
-	@kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)
+	KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER=$(CONTAINER_TOOL) kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)
+	$(CONTAINER_TOOL) stop kind-registry && $(CONTAINER_TOOL) rm kind-registry
 
 tilt-up: FORCE kind-create
 	@command -v tilt >/dev/null 2>&1 || { \
diff --git a/Makefile.maker.yaml b/Makefile.maker.yaml
index 5bb351ae..57293e76 100644
--- a/Makefile.maker.yaml
+++ b/Makefile.maker.yaml
@@ -149,10 +149,7 @@ verbatim: |
       echo "Kind is not installed. Please install Kind manually."; \
       exit 1; \
     }
-    @kind get clusters | grep -q $(KIND_CLUSTER) || { \
-      printf "\e[1;36m>> kind create cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)\e[0m\n"; \
-      kind create cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER); \
-    }
+    KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=$(KIND_CLUSTER) CONTAINER_TOOL=$(CONTAINER_TOOL) ./hack/kind-with-registry.sh
 
   # Delete the Kind cluster created for local development and testing.
   kind-delete: FORCE
@@ -161,7 +158,8 @@ verbatim: |
       exit 1; \
     }
     @printf "\e[1;36m>> kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)\e[0m\n"
-    @kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)
+    KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER=$(CONTAINER_TOOL) kind delete cluster --name=$(KIND_CLUSTER)
+    $(CONTAINER_TOOL) stop kind-registry && $(CONTAINER_TOOL) rm kind-registry
 
   tilt-up: FORCE kind-create
     @command -v tilt >/dev/null 2>&1 || { \
diff --git a/hack/kind-with-registry.sh b/hack/kind-with-registry.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fabecd44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/kind-with-registry.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company and IronCore contributors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+CONTAINER_TOOL="${CONTAINER_TOOL:-docker}"
+KIND_CLUSTER_NAME="${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME:-kind}"
+export KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER="${CONTAINER_TOOL}"
+
+# Exit early if the cluster already exists
+if kind get clusters | grep -q "^${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}$"; then
+  echo "Cluster ${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME} already exists"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# 1. Create registry container unless it already exists
+REGISTRY_NAME='kind-registry'
+REGISTRY_PORT="${KIND_REGISTRY_PORT:-5000}"
+if [ "$("${CONTAINER_TOOL}" inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' "${REGISTRY_NAME}" 2>/dev/null || true)" != 'true' ]; then
+  "${CONTAINER_TOOL}" run -d --restart=always -p "127.0.0.1:${REGISTRY_PORT}:5000" --network bridge --name "${REGISTRY_NAME}" registry:3
+fi
+
+# 2. Create kind cluster
+cat <<EOF | kind create cluster --config=-
+kind: Cluster
+apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
+name: ${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}
+nodes:
+- role: control-plane
+  labels:
+    topology.kubernetes.io/zone: eu-de-1a
+EOF
+
+# 3. Add the registry config to the nodes
+#
+# This is necessary because localhost resolves to loopback addresses that are
+# network-namespace local.
+# In other words: localhost in the container is not localhost on the host.
+#
+# We want a consistent name that works from both ends, so we tell containerd to
+# alias localhost:${reg_port} to the registry container when pulling images
+REGISTRY_DIR="/etc/containerd/certs.d/localhost:${REGISTRY_PORT}"
+for node in $(kind get nodes); do
+  "${CONTAINER_TOOL}" exec "${node}" mkdir -p "${REGISTRY_DIR}"
+  cat <<EOF | "${CONTAINER_TOOL}" exec -i "${node}" cp /dev/stdin "${REGISTRY_DIR}/hosts.toml"
+[host."http://${REGISTRY_NAME}:5000"]
+EOF
+done
+
+# 4. Connect the registry to the cluster network if not already connected
+# This allows kind to bootstrap the network but ensures they're on the same network
+if [ "$("${CONTAINER_TOOL}" inspect -f='{{json .NetworkSettings.Networks.kind}}' "${REGISTRY_NAME}")" = 'null' ]; then
+  "${CONTAINER_TOOL}" network connect "kind" "${REGISTRY_NAME}"
+fi
+
+# 5. Document the local registry
+# https://github.com/kubernetes/enhancements/tree/master/keps/sig-cluster-lifecycle/generic/1755-communicating-a-local-registry
+cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: local-registry-hosting
+  namespace: kube-public
+data:
+  localRegistryHosting.v1: |
+    host: "localhost:${REGISTRY_PORT}"
+    help: "https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/local-registry/"
+EOF
+
+kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready --timeout=300s "node/${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME}-control-plane"