diff --git a/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s.eyaml b/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s.eyaml
index 56f2d4b..27632c3 100644
--- a/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s.eyaml
+++ b/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s.eyaml
@@ -1 +1 @@
-rke2::node_token: ENC[PKCS7,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]
+rke2::node_token: ENC[PKCS7,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]
diff --git a/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s/control.yaml b/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s/control.yaml
index 28a130e..5d611cc 100644
--- a/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s/control.yaml
+++ b/hieradata/roles/infra/k8s/control.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ rke2::csi_ceph_templates:
   - ceph-csi-secret
 rke2::extra_config_files:
   - rke2-canal-config
-  - service-loadbalancer-nginx
+#  - service-loadbalancer-nginx
 rke2::config_hash:
   advertise-address: "%{hiera('networking_loopback0_ip')}"
   cluster-domain: "svc.k8s.unkin.net"
diff --git a/modules/rke2/lib/facter/k8s_masters.rb b/modules/rke2/lib/facter/k8s_masters.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..33b9c84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/rke2/lib/facter/k8s_masters.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'json'
+require 'open3'
+
+Facter.add(:k8s_masters) do
+  confine do
+    File.exist?('/etc/rancher/rke2/rke2.yaml') &&
+      File.executable?('/usr/bin/kubectl')
+  end
+
+  setcode do
+    env = { 'KUBECONFIG' => '/etc/rancher/rke2/rke2.yaml' }
+    cmd = ['/usr/bin/kubectl', 'get', 'nodes', '-o', 'json']
+
+    stdout, stderr, status = Open3.capture3(env, *cmd)
+
+    if status.success?
+      json = JSON.parse(stdout)
+
+      master_count = json['items'].count do |item|
+        roles = item.dig('metadata', 'labels') || {}
+
+        # Look for well-known labels assigned to control-plane nodes
+        roles.any? do |key, _|
+          key =~ %r{node-role\.kubernetes\.io/(control-plane|master|etcd)}
+        end
+      end
+
+      master_count
+    else
+      Facter.debug("kubectl error: #{stderr}")
+      0
+    end
+  rescue StandardError => e
+    Facter.debug("Exception in k8s_masters fact: #{e.message}")
+    0
+  end
+end
diff --git a/modules/rke2/manifests/config.pp b/modules/rke2/manifests/config.pp
index e4affb7..cb17c77 100644
--- a/modules/rke2/manifests/config.pp
+++ b/modules/rke2/manifests/config.pp
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@ class rke2::config (
         token  => $node_token,
       } )
     }else{
-      $config = merge($config_hash, {
-        token  => $node_token,
-      } )
+      $config = merge($config_hash, {})
     }
   } elsif $node_type == 'agent' {
       $config = merge($config_hash, {
@@ -75,7 +73,7 @@ class rke2::config (
   }
 
   # on the controller nodes only
-  if $node_type == 'server' {
+  if $node_type == 'server' and $facts['k8s_masters'] and $facts['k8s_masters'] > 2 {
 
     # wait for purelb helm to setup namespace
     if 'purelb' in $facts['k8s_namespaces'] {
@@ -89,17 +87,17 @@ class rke2::config (
       }
     }
 
-    # wait for rancher helm to setup namespace
-    if 'cattle-system' in $facts['k8s_namespaces'] {
-      file {'/var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/manifests/ingress-route-rancher.yaml':
-        ensure  => file,
-        owner   => 'root',
-        group   => 'root',
-        mode    => '0644',
-        source  => 'puppet:///modules/rke2/ingress-route-rancher.yaml',
-        require => Service['rke2-server'],
-      }
-    }
+    ## wait for rancher helm to setup namespace
+    #if 'cattle-system' in $facts['k8s_namespaces'] {
+    #  file {'/var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/manifests/ingress-route-rancher.yaml':
+    #    ensure  => file,
+    #    owner   => 'root',
+    #    group   => 'root',
+    #    mode    => '0644',
+    #    source  => 'puppet:///modules/rke2/ingress-route-rancher.yaml',
+    #    require => Service['rke2-server'],
+    #  }
+    #}
 
     # manage extra config config (these are not dependent on helm)
     $extra_config_files.each |$file| {
diff --git a/modules/rke2/manifests/helm.pp b/modules/rke2/manifests/helm.pp
index e172f2e..8eb5536 100644
--- a/modules/rke2/manifests/helm.pp
+++ b/modules/rke2/manifests/helm.pp
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ class rke2::helm (
       mode   => '0755',
     }
 
-    # on the controller nodes only
-    if $node_type == 'server' {
+    # on the controller nodes only, and after 3 master nodes exist
+    if $node_type == 'server' and $facts['k8s_masters'] and $facts['k8s_masters'] > 2 {
 
       # check if the repo already exists
       $helm_repos.each | String $repo, Stdlib::HTTPSUrl $url | {