diff --git a/charts/karpenter/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/karpenter/templates/deployment.yaml
index 990ce486292e..44ab4ed35d8a 100644
--- a/charts/karpenter/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/karpenter/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -195,6 +195,10 @@ spec:
             {{- toYaml . | nindent 12 }}
           {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.initContainers }}
+      initContainers:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
       {{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
       nodeSelector:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
diff --git a/charts/karpenter/values.yaml b/charts/karpenter/values.yaml
index bc24a5852ee9..707a8747e044 100644
--- a/charts/karpenter/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/karpenter/values.yaml
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ dnsConfig: {}
 #  options:
 #    - name: ndots
 #      value: "1"
+# -- add additional initContainers to run before karpenter container starts
+initContainers: {}
+#  - name: list-ec2-instances
+#    image: amazon/aws-cli:latest
+#    command: [ 'aws', 'ec2', 'describe-instance-types']
 # -- Node selectors to schedule the pod to nodes with labels.
 nodeSelector:
   kubernetes.io/os: linux