diff --git a/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/doc.go b/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5c2caa04e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// Package v1alpha1 contains API Schema definitions for the metal3.io v1alpha1 API group
+// +kubebuilder:object:generate=true
+// +k8s:openapi-gen=true
+// +groupName=metal3.io
+package v1alpha1
diff --git a/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/hostfirmwaresettings_types.go b/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/hostfirmwaresettings_types.go
index ab0b823c69..16f14857c7 100644
--- a/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/hostfirmwaresettings_types.go
+++ b/apis/metal3.io/v1alpha1/hostfirmwaresettings_types.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ type HostFirmwareSettingsSpec struct {
 
 	// Settings are the desired firmware settings stored as name/value pairs.
 	// +patchStrategy=merge
-	Settings DesiredSettingsMap `json:"settings" required:"true"`
+	Settings DesiredSettingsMap `json:"settings" patchStrategy:"merge" required:"true"`
 }
 
 // HostFirmwareSettingsStatus defines the observed state of HostFirmwareSettings.