diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
index 3269cc66..9b946bb2 100755
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/bookkeeper-cluster-initialize.yaml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ spec:
           - |
             {{- if $zk:=.Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
             export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
             {{ else }}
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
index 68afa2ed..785fa726 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/broker-statefulset.yaml
@@ -155,10 +155,10 @@ spec:
             {{- include "pulsar.broker.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 12 }}
             export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             {{- if .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStore }}
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.configurationStore.connect" . }} get {{ .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStoreMetadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.configurationStore.connect" . }} get {{ .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStoreMetadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
             {{- end }}
             {{- if not .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStore }}
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ .Values.metadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ .Values.metadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
             {{- end }}
               echo "pulsar cluster {{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }} isn't initialized yet ... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
@@ -265,11 +265,11 @@ spec:
           echo "OK" > "${statusFilePath:-status}";
           {{- if .Values.components.zookeeper }}
           {{- include "pulsar.broker.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 10 }}
-          timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ template "pulsar.broker.znode" . }};
+          timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ template "pulsar.broker.znode" . }};
           while [ $? -eq 0 ]; do
             echo "broker {{ template "pulsar.broker.hostname" . }} znode still exists ... check in 10 seconds ...";
             sleep 10;
-            timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ template "pulsar.broker.znode" . }};
+            timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.connect" . }} get {{ template "pulsar.broker.znode" . }};
           done;
           {{- end }}
           cat conf/pulsar_env.sh;
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
index 0d2a7ecd..a08af202 100644
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/proxy-statefulset.yaml
@@ -136,15 +136,15 @@ spec:
           - |
             export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
             {{- if $zk:=.Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done; 
             {{- else if .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStore }}
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.configurationStore.service" . }} get {{ .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStoreMetadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.configurationStore.service" . }} get {{ .Values.pulsar_metadata.configurationStoreMetadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
               echo "pulsar cluster {{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }} isn't initialized yet ... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
             {{- else }}
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.service" . }} get {{ .Values.metadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ template "pulsar.zookeeper.service" . }} get {{ .Values.metadataPrefix }}/admin/clusters/{{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }}; do
               echo "pulsar cluster {{ template "pulsar.cluster.name" . }} isn't initialized yet ... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
             {{- end}}
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
index 3099856a..8da736f2 100755
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/pulsar-cluster-initialize.yaml
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ spec:
           - |
             {{- if $zk := .Values.pulsar_metadata.userProvidedZookeepers }}
             export PULSAR_MEM="-Xmx128M";
-            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
+            until timeout 15 bin/pulsar zookeeper-shell -r -server {{ $zk }} ls {{ or .Values.metadataPrefix "/" }}; do
               echo "user provided zookeepers {{ $zk }} are unreachable... check in 3 seconds ..." && sleep 3;
             done;
             {{ else if .Values.components.zookeeper }}
diff --git a/charts/pulsar/templates/zookeeper-statefulset.yaml b/charts/pulsar/templates/zookeeper-statefulset.yaml
index cf962bea..53eff6f3 100755
--- a/charts/pulsar/templates/zookeeper-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/charts/pulsar/templates/zookeeper-statefulset.yaml
@@ -152,7 +152,11 @@ spec:
           bin/apply-config-from-env.py conf/zookeeper.conf;
           {{- include "pulsar.zookeeper.tls.settings" . | nindent 10 }}
           bin/generate-zookeeper-config.sh conf/zookeeper.conf;
-          OPTS="${OPTS} -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true" exec bin/pulsar zookeeper;
+          {{- $readOnlyMode := false -}}
+          {{- if hasKey .Values.pulsar_metadata "metadataStoreAllowReadOnlyOperations" }}
+          {{- $readOnlyMode = not (not .Values.pulsar_metadata.metadataStoreAllowReadOnlyOperations) -}}
+          {{- end }}
+          OPTS="-Dreadonlymode.enabled={{ $readOnlyMode }} ${OPTS} -Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true" exec bin/pulsar zookeeper;
         ports:
         # prometheus needs to access /metrics endpoint
         - name: http