diff --git a/cmd/kyverno/main.go b/cmd/kyverno/main.go
index 075ef77a52..05fca4853c 100755
--- a/cmd/kyverno/main.go
+++ b/cmd/kyverno/main.go
@@ -38,20 +38,19 @@ import (
 const resyncPeriod = 15 * time.Minute
 
 var (
-	kubeconfig                     string
-	serverIP                       string
-	webhookTimeout                 int
-	backgroundSync                 int
-	runValidationInMutatingWebhook string
-	profile                        bool
 	//TODO: this has been added to backward support command line arguments
 	// will be removed in future and the configuration will be set only via configmaps
-	filterK8Resources string
+	filterK8Resources              string
+	kubeconfig                     string
+	serverIP                       string
+	runValidationInMutatingWebhook string
+	excludeGroupRole               string
+	excludeUsername                string
+	profilePort                    string
 
-	excludeGroupRole string
-	excludeUsername  string
-	// User FQDN as CSR CN
-	fqdncn       bool
+	webhookTimeout int
+
+	profile      bool
 	policyReport bool
 	setupLog     = log.Log.WithName("setup")
 )
@@ -67,19 +66,13 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&serverIP, "serverIP", "", "IP address where Kyverno controller runs. Only required if out-of-cluster.")
 	flag.StringVar(&runValidationInMutatingWebhook, "runValidationInMutatingWebhook", "", "Validation will also be done using the mutation webhook, set to 'true' to enable. Older kubernetes versions do not work properly when a validation webhook is registered.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&profile, "profile", false, "Set this flag to 'true', to enable profiling.")
+	flag.StringVar(&profilePort, "profile-port", "6060", "Enable profiling at given port, default to 6060.")
 	if err := flag.Set("v", "2"); err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "failed to set log level")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-
-	// Generate CSR with CN as FQDN due to https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/issues/542
-	flag.BoolVar(&fqdncn, "fqdn-as-cn", false, "use FQDN as Common Name in CSR")
 	flag.Parse()
 
-	if profile {
-		go http.ListenAndServe("localhost:6060", nil)
-	}
-
 	version.PrintVersionInfo(log.Log)
 	cleanUp := make(chan struct{})
 	stopCh := signal.SetupSignalHandler()
@@ -89,6 +82,18 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	if profile {
+		addr := ":" + profilePort
+		setupLog.Info("Enable profiling, see details at https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/wiki/Profiling-Kyverno-on-Kubernetes", "port", profilePort)
+		go func() {
+			if err := http.ListenAndServe(addr, nil); err != nil {
+				setupLog.Error(err, "Failed to enable profiling")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+		}()
+
+	}
+
 	// KYVERNO CRD CLIENT
 	// access CRD resources
 	//		- ClusterPolicy, Policy
@@ -276,7 +281,7 @@ func main() {
 	)
 
 	// Configure certificates
-	tlsPair, err := client.InitTLSPemPair(clientConfig, fqdncn)
+	tlsPair, err := client.InitTLSPemPair(clientConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		setupLog.Error(err, "Failed to initialize TLS key/certificate pair")
 		os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/pkg/dclient/certificates.go b/pkg/dclient/certificates.go
index c307c8a6d8..aa09de814f 100644
--- a/pkg/dclient/certificates.go
+++ b/pkg/dclient/certificates.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 // InitTLSPemPair Loads or creates PEM private key and TLS certificate for webhook server.
 // Created pair is stored in cluster's secret.
 // Returns struct with key/certificate pair.
-func (c *Client) InitTLSPemPair(configuration *rest.Config, fqdncn bool) (*tls.PemPair, error) {
+func (c *Client) InitTLSPemPair(configuration *rest.Config) (*tls.PemPair, error) {
 	logger := c.log
 	certProps, err := c.GetTLSCertProps(configuration)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ func (c *Client) InitTLSPemPair(configuration *rest.Config, fqdncn bool) (*tls.P
 	}
 
 	logger.Info("Building key/certificate pair for TLS")
-	tlsPair, err := c.buildTLSPemPair(certProps, fqdncn)
+	tlsPair, err := c.buildTLSPemPair(certProps)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (c *Client) InitTLSPemPair(configuration *rest.Config, fqdncn bool) (*tls.P
 
 // buildTLSPemPair Issues TLS certificate for webhook server using self-signed CA cert
 // Returns signed and approved TLS certificate in PEM format
-func (c *Client) buildTLSPemPair(props tls.CertificateProps, fqdncn bool) (*tls.PemPair, error) {
+func (c *Client) buildTLSPemPair(props tls.CertificateProps) (*tls.PemPair, error) {
 	caCert, caPEM, err := tls.GenerateCACert()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func (c *Client) buildTLSPemPair(props tls.CertificateProps, fqdncn bool) (*tls.
 	if err := c.WriteCACertToSecret(caPEM, props); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to write CA cert to secret: %v", err)
 	}
-	return tls.GenerateCertPem(caCert, props, fqdncn)
+	return tls.GenerateCertPem(caCert, props)
 }
 
 //ReadRootCASecret returns the RootCA from the pre-defined secret
diff --git a/pkg/engine/mutate/patchesUtils.go b/pkg/engine/mutate/patchesUtils.go
index d188000032..633dfe0fa9 100644
--- a/pkg/engine/mutate/patchesUtils.go
+++ b/pkg/engine/mutate/patchesUtils.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func generatePatches(src, dst []byte) ([][]byte, error) {
 	return patchesBytes, err
 }
 
-// preProcessJSONPatchesgo deals with the JsonPatch when reinvocation
+// preProcessJSONPatches deals with the JsonPatch when reinvocation
 // policy is set in webhook, to avoid generating duplicate values.
 // This duplicate error only occurs on type array, if it's adding to a map
 // the value will be added to the map if nil, otherwise it overwrites the old value
diff --git a/pkg/generate/generate.go b/pkg/generate/generate.go
index 1fb720afa1..8708d3d1bf 100644
--- a/pkg/generate/generate.go
+++ b/pkg/generate/generate.go
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func (c *Controller) applyGeneratePolicy(log logr.Logger, policyContext engine.P
 	}
 
 	if gr.Status.State == "" && len(genResources) > 0 {
-		log.V(3).Info("updating policy status", "policy", policy.Name, "data", ruleNameToProcessingTime)
+		log.V(4).Info("updating policy status", "policy", policy.Name, "data", ruleNameToProcessingTime)
 		c.policyStatusListener.Update(generateSyncStats{
 			policyName:               policy.Name,
 			ruleNameToProcessingTime: ruleNameToProcessingTime,
diff --git a/pkg/kyverno/apply/command.go b/pkg/kyverno/apply/command.go
index 3b3defa8f2..8934862f20 100644
--- a/pkg/kyverno/apply/command.go
+++ b/pkg/kyverno/apply/command.go
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ func applyCommandHelper(resourcePaths []string, cluster bool, policyReport bool,
 	skippedPolicies = make([]SkippedPolicy, 0)
 
 	for _, policy := range mutatedPolicies {
-		err := policy2.Validate(utils.MarshalPolicy(*policy), nil, true, openAPIController)
+		err := policy2.Validate(policy, nil, true, openAPIController)
 		if err != nil {
 			rc.skip += len(resources)
 			log.Log.V(3).Info(fmt.Sprintf("skipping policy %v as it is not valid", policy.Name), "error", err)
diff --git a/pkg/kyverno/validate/command.go b/pkg/kyverno/validate/command.go
index 6ad318c2f2..9940f2bde8 100644
--- a/pkg/kyverno/validate/command.go
+++ b/pkg/kyverno/validate/command.go
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func Command() *cobra.Command {
 			invalidPolicyFound := false
 			for _, policy := range policies {
 				fmt.Println("----------------------------------------------------------------------")
-				err := policy2.Validate(utils.MarshalPolicy(*policy), nil, true, openAPIController)
+				err := policy2.Validate(policy, nil, true, openAPIController)
 				if err != nil {
 					fmt.Printf("Policy %s is invalid.\n", policy.Name)
 					fmt.Printf("Error: invalid policy.\nCause: %s\n\n", err)
diff --git a/pkg/openapi/validation.go b/pkg/openapi/validation.go
index 23aac8d27d..22714275f0 100644
--- a/pkg/openapi/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/openapi/validation.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package openapi
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
@@ -13,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 	data "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/api"
 	v1 "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/api/kyverno/v1"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/engine"
-	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/engine/utils"
 	cmap "github.com/orcaman/concurrent-map"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
@@ -78,24 +76,7 @@ func NewOpenAPIController() (*Controller, error) {
 }
 
 // ValidatePolicyFields ...
-func (o *Controller) ValidatePolicyFields(policyRaw []byte) error {
-
-	var policy v1.ClusterPolicy
-	err := json.Unmarshal(policyRaw, &policy)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	policyUnst, err := utils.ConvertToUnstructured(policyRaw)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	err = o.ValidateResource(*policyUnst.DeepCopy(), "ClusterPolicy")
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
+func (o *Controller) ValidatePolicyFields(policy v1.ClusterPolicy) error {
 	return o.ValidatePolicyMutation(policy)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/policy/validate.go b/pkg/policy/validate.go
index c587e7fb46..ef1c6dc94a 100644
--- a/pkg/policy/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/policy/validate.go
@@ -21,19 +21,8 @@ import (
 // Validate does some initial check to verify some conditions
 // - One operation per rule
 // - ResourceDescription mandatory checks
-func Validate(policyRaw []byte, client *dclient.Client, mock bool, openAPIController *openapi.Controller) error {
-	// check for invalid fields
-	err := checkInvalidFields(policyRaw)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	var p kyverno.ClusterPolicy
-	err = json.Unmarshal(policyRaw, &p)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal policy: %v", err)
-	}
-
+func Validate(policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy, client *dclient.Client, mock bool, openAPIController *openapi.Controller) error {
+	p := *policy
 	if len(common.PolicyHasVariables(p)) > 0 && common.PolicyHasNonAllowedVariables(p) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("policy contains invalid variables")
 	}
@@ -163,7 +152,7 @@ func Validate(policyRaw []byte, client *dclient.Client, mock bool, openAPIContro
 	}
 
 	if !mock {
-		if err := openAPIController.ValidatePolicyFields(policyRaw); err != nil {
+		if err := openAPIController.ValidatePolicyFields(p); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	} else {
@@ -175,35 +164,6 @@ func Validate(policyRaw []byte, client *dclient.Client, mock bool, openAPIContro
 	return nil
 }
 
-// checkInvalidFields - checks invalid fields in webhook policy request
-// policy supports 5 json fields in types.go i.e. "apiVersion", "kind", "metadata", "spec", "status"
-// If the webhook request policy contains new fields then block creation of policy
-func checkInvalidFields(policyRaw []byte) error {
-	// hardcoded supported fields by policy
-	var allowedKeys = []string{"apiVersion", "kind", "metadata", "spec", "status"}
-	var data interface{}
-	err := json.Unmarshal(policyRaw, &data)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal policy admission request err %v", err)
-	}
-	mapData := data.(map[string]interface{})
-	// validate any new fields in the admission request against the supported fields and block the request with any new fields
-	for requestField := range mapData {
-		ok := false
-		for _, allowedField := range allowedKeys {
-			if requestField == allowedField {
-				ok = true
-				break
-			}
-		}
-
-		if !ok {
-			return fmt.Errorf("unknown field \"%s\" in policy", requestField)
-		}
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 // doMatchAndExcludeConflict checks if the resultant
 // of match and exclude block is not an empty set
 func doMatchAndExcludeConflict(rule kyverno.Rule) bool {
diff --git a/pkg/policy/validate_test.go b/pkg/policy/validate_test.go
index b6b3769214..8a95f4df27 100644
--- a/pkg/policy/validate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/policy/validate_test.go
@@ -372,8 +372,11 @@ func Test_Validate_Policy(t *testing.T) {
 	 }`)
 
 	openAPIController, _ := openapi.NewOpenAPIController()
+	var policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
+	err := json.Unmarshal(rawPolicy, &policy)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
 
-	err := Validate(rawPolicy, nil, true, openAPIController)
+	err = Validate(policy, nil, true, openAPIController)
 	assert.NilError(t, err)
 }
 
@@ -515,8 +518,12 @@ func Test_Validate_ErrorFormat(t *testing.T) {
 	 }
 	`)
 
+	var policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
+	err := json.Unmarshal(rawPolicy, &policy)
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+
 	openAPIController, _ := openapi.NewOpenAPIController()
-	err := Validate(rawPolicy, nil, true, openAPIController)
+	err = Validate(policy, nil, true, openAPIController)
 	assert.Assert(t, err != nil)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/policyreport/common.go b/pkg/policyreport/common.go
index 4980a3eaf2..e570ce8c25 100755
--- a/pkg/policyreport/common.go
+++ b/pkg/policyreport/common.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 
 	backoff "github.com/cenkalti/backoff"
 	kyverno "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/api/kyverno/v1"
-	v1 "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/api/kyverno/v1"
 	client "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/dclient"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	unstructured "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
@@ -57,27 +56,3 @@ func converLabelToSelector(labelMap map[string]string) (labels.Selector, error)
 
 	return policyViolationSelector, nil
 }
-
-type violationCount struct {
-	policyName    string
-	violatedRules []v1.ViolatedRule
-}
-
-func (vc violationCount) PolicyName() string {
-	return vc.policyName
-}
-
-func (vc violationCount) UpdateStatus(status kyverno.PolicyStatus) kyverno.PolicyStatus {
-
-	var ruleNameToViolations = make(map[string]int)
-	for _, rule := range vc.violatedRules {
-		ruleNameToViolations[rule.Name]++
-	}
-
-	for i := range status.Rules {
-		status.ViolationCount += ruleNameToViolations[status.Rules[i].Name]
-		status.Rules[i].ViolationCount += ruleNameToViolations[status.Rules[i].Name]
-	}
-
-	return status
-}
diff --git a/pkg/policyreport/reportrequest.go b/pkg/policyreport/reportrequest.go
index 5a7864b0f0..8a08e1018f 100755
--- a/pkg/policyreport/reportrequest.go
+++ b/pkg/policyreport/reportrequest.go
@@ -201,8 +201,14 @@ func (gen *Generator) runWorker() {
 
 func (gen *Generator) handleErr(err error, key interface{}) {
 	logger := gen.log
+	keyHash, ok := key.(string)
+	if !ok {
+		keyHash = ""
+	}
+
 	if err == nil {
 		gen.queue.Forget(key)
+		gen.dataStore.delete(keyHash)
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -215,9 +221,7 @@ func (gen *Generator) handleErr(err error, key interface{}) {
 
 	logger.Error(err, "failed to process report request", "key", key)
 	gen.queue.Forget(key)
-	if keyHash, ok := key.(string); ok {
-		gen.dataStore.delete(keyHash)
-	}
+	gen.dataStore.delete(keyHash)
 }
 
 func (gen *Generator) processNextWorkItem() bool {
@@ -259,8 +263,6 @@ func (gen *Generator) processNextWorkItem() bool {
 }
 
 func (gen *Generator) syncHandler(info Info) error {
-	gen.log.V(4).Info("reconcile report change request")
-
 	builder := NewBuilder(gen.cpolLister, gen.polLister)
 	rcrUnstructured, err := builder.build(info)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -271,6 +273,7 @@ func (gen *Generator) syncHandler(info Info) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	gen.log.V(4).Info("reconcile report change request", "key", info.ToKey())
 	return gen.sync(rcrUnstructured, info)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/policystatus/policy_status.go b/pkg/policystatus/policy_status.go
index 86f11293bf..0074f8f281 100644
--- a/pkg/policystatus/policy_status.go
+++ b/pkg/policystatus/policy_status.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 //on a channel.
 //The worker then updates the current status using the methods
 //exposed by the interface.
-//Current implementation is designed to be thread safe with optimised
+//Current implementation is designed to be thread safe with optimized
 //locking for each policy.
 
 // statusUpdater defines a type to have a method which
@@ -86,18 +86,19 @@ func (s *Sync) Run(workers int, stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 		go s.updateStatusCache(stopCh)
 	}
 
-	wait.Until(s.updatePolicyStatus, time.Second, stopCh)
+	// sync the status to the existing policy every minute
+	wait.Until(s.writePolicyStatus, time.Minute, stopCh)
 	<-stopCh
 }
 
-// updateStatusCache is a worker which updates the current status
-//using the statusUpdater interface
+// updateStatusCache is a worker which adds the current status
+// to the cache, using the statusUpdater interface
 func (s *Sync) updateStatusCache(stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case statusUpdater := <-s.Listener:
 			name := statusUpdater.PolicyName()
-			s.log.V(3).Info("received policy status update request", "policy", name)
+			s.log.V(4).Info("received policy status update request", "policy", name)
 
 			s.cache.keyToMutex.Get(name).Lock()
 
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ func (s *Sync) updateStatusCache(stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 			oldStatus, _ := json.Marshal(status)
 			newStatus, _ := json.Marshal(updatedStatus)
 
-			s.log.V(4).Info("updated policy status", "policy", statusUpdater.PolicyName(),
+			s.log.V(5).Info("updated policy status in the cache", "policy", statusUpdater.PolicyName(),
 				"oldStatus", string(oldStatus), "newStatus", string(newStatus))
 
 		case <-stopCh:
@@ -130,11 +131,11 @@ func (s *Sync) updateStatusCache(stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 	}
 }
 
-// updatePolicyStatus updates the status in the policy resource definition
-// from the status cache, syncing them
-func (s *Sync) updatePolicyStatus() {
+// writePolicyStatus sends the update request to the APIServer
+// syncs the status (from cache) to the policy
+func (s *Sync) writePolicyStatus() {
 	for key, status := range s.getCachedStatus() {
-		s.log.V(3).Info("updating policy status", "policy", key)
+		s.log.V(4).Info("updating policy status", "policy", key)
 		namespace, policyName := s.parseStatusKey(key)
 		if namespace == "" {
 			s.updateClusterPolicy(policyName, key, status)
diff --git a/pkg/tls/tls.go b/pkg/tls/tls.go
index d48f78d896..feac464f3a 100644
--- a/pkg/tls/tls.go
+++ b/pkg/tls/tls.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func GenerateCACert() (*KeyPair, *PemPair, error) {
 
 // GenerateCertPem takes the results of GenerateCACert and uses it to create the
 // PEM-encoded public certificate and private key, respectively
-func GenerateCertPem(caCert *KeyPair, props CertificateProps, fqdncn bool) (*PemPair, error) {
+func GenerateCertPem(caCert *KeyPair, props CertificateProps) (*PemPair, error) {
 	now := time.Now()
 	begin := now.Add(-1 * time.Hour)
 	end := now.Add(certValidityDuration)
@@ -119,11 +119,6 @@ func GenerateCertPem(caCert *KeyPair, props CertificateProps, fqdncn bool) (*Pem
 	commonName := GenerateInClusterServiceName(props)
 	dnsNames[2] = fmt.Sprintf("%s", commonName)
 
-	if fqdncn {
-		// use FQDN as CommonName as a workaournd for https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/issues/542
-		csCommonName = commonName
-	}
-
 	var ips []net.IP
 	apiServerIP := net.ParseIP(props.APIServerHost)
 	if apiServerIP != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/webhooks/policymutation.go b/pkg/webhooks/policymutation.go
index 94e1788051..42df16e972 100644
--- a/pkg/webhooks/policymutation.go
+++ b/pkg/webhooks/policymutation.go
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
+	logr "github.com/go-logr/logr"
 	kyverno "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/api/kyverno/v1"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/policymutation"
 	v1beta1 "k8s.io/api/admission/v1beta1"
@@ -13,13 +15,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 func (ws *WebhookServer) policyMutation(request *v1beta1.AdmissionRequest) *v1beta1.AdmissionResponse {
-	logger := ws.log.WithValues("action", "policymutation", "uid", request.UID, "kind", request.Kind, "namespace", request.Namespace, "name", request.Name, "operation", request.Operation)
-	var policy, oldPolicy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
+	logger := ws.log.WithValues("action", "policy mutation", "uid", request.UID, "kind", request.Kind, "namespace", request.Namespace, "name", request.Name, "operation", request.Operation)
+	var policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
 	raw := request.Object.Raw
 
 	//TODO: can this happen? wont this be picked by OpenAPI spec schema ?
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw, &policy); err != nil {
-		logger.Error(err, "failed to unmarshall policy admission request")
+		logger.Error(err, "failed to unmarshal policy admission request")
 		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
 			Allowed: true,
 			Result: &metav1.Status{
@@ -29,25 +31,20 @@ func (ws *WebhookServer) policyMutation(request *v1beta1.AdmissionRequest) *v1be
 	}
 
 	if request.Operation == v1beta1.Update {
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(request.OldObject.Raw, &oldPolicy); err != nil {
-			logger.Error(err, "failed to unmarshall old policy admission request")
-			return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
-				Allowed: true,
-				Result: &metav1.Status{
-					Message: fmt.Sprintf("failed to default value, check kyverno controller logs for details: %v", err),
-				},
-			}
-		}
-
-		if isStatusUpdate(oldPolicy, policy) {
-			logger.V(3).Info("skip policy mutation on status update")
-			return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{Allowed: true}
+		admissionResponse := hasPolicyChanged(policy, request.OldObject.Raw, logger)
+		if admissionResponse != nil {
+			logger.V(4).Info("skip policy mutation on status update")
+			return admissionResponse
 		}
 	}
 
+	startTime := time.Now()
+	logger.V(3).Info("start policy change mutation")
+	defer logger.V(3).Info("finished policy change mutation", "time", time.Since(startTime).String())
+
 	// Generate JSON Patches for defaults
 	patches, updateMsgs := policymutation.GenerateJSONPatchesForDefaults(policy, logger)
-	if patches != nil {
+	if len(patches) != 0 {
 		patchType := v1beta1.PatchTypeJSONPatch
 		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
 			Allowed: true,
@@ -58,11 +55,32 @@ func (ws *WebhookServer) policyMutation(request *v1beta1.AdmissionRequest) *v1be
 			PatchType: &patchType,
 		}
 	}
+
 	return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
 		Allowed: true,
 	}
 }
 
+func hasPolicyChanged(policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy, oldRaw []byte, logger logr.Logger) *v1beta1.AdmissionResponse {
+	var oldPolicy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(oldRaw, &oldPolicy); err != nil {
+		logger.Error(err, "failed to unmarshal old policy admission request")
+		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
+			Allowed: true,
+			Result: &metav1.Status{
+				Message: fmt.Sprintf("failed to validate policy, check kyverno controller logs for details: %v", err),
+			},
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	if isStatusUpdate(oldPolicy, policy) {
+		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{Allowed: true}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func isStatusUpdate(old, new *kyverno.ClusterPolicy) bool {
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(old.GetAnnotations(), new.GetAnnotations()) {
 		return false
diff --git a/pkg/webhooks/policyvalidation.go b/pkg/webhooks/policyvalidation.go
index 878fd776c6..548030167e 100644
--- a/pkg/webhooks/policyvalidation.go
+++ b/pkg/webhooks/policyvalidation.go
@@ -1,24 +1,44 @@
 package webhooks
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	kyverno "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/api/kyverno/v1"
 	policyvalidate "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/policy"
-
 	v1beta1 "k8s.io/api/admission/v1beta1"
-
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
 //HandlePolicyValidation performs the validation check on policy resource
 func (ws *WebhookServer) policyValidation(request *v1beta1.AdmissionRequest) *v1beta1.AdmissionResponse {
 	logger := ws.log.WithValues("action", "policy validation", "uid", request.UID, "kind", request.Kind, "namespace", request.Namespace, "name", request.Name, "operation", request.Operation)
+	var policy *kyverno.ClusterPolicy
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(request.Object.Raw, &policy); err != nil {
+		logger.Error(err, "failed to unmarshal policy admission request")
+		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
+			Allowed: true,
+			Result: &metav1.Status{
+				Message: fmt.Sprintf("failed to validate policy, check kyverno controller logs for details: %v", err),
+			},
+		}
+	}
+
+	if request.Operation == v1beta1.Update {
+		admissionResponse := hasPolicyChanged(policy, request.OldObject.Raw, logger)
+		if admissionResponse != nil {
+			logger.V(4).Info("skip policy validation on status update")
+			return admissionResponse
+		}
+	}
 
 	startTime := time.Now()
-	logger.V(3).Info("start validating policy")
-	defer logger.V(3).Info("finished validating policy", "time", time.Since(startTime).String())
+	logger.V(3).Info("start policy change validation")
+	defer logger.V(3).Info("finished policy change validation", "time", time.Since(startTime).String())
 
-	if err := policyvalidate.Validate(request.Object.Raw, ws.client, false, ws.openAPIController); err != nil {
+	if err := policyvalidate.Validate(policy, ws.client, false, ws.openAPIController); err != nil {
 		logger.Error(err, "policy validation errors")
 		return &v1beta1.AdmissionResponse{
 			Allowed: false,
diff --git a/pkg/webhooks/server.go b/pkg/webhooks/server.go
index b3c1ad89b2..9359b0333d 100644
--- a/pkg/webhooks/server.go
+++ b/pkg/webhooks/server.go
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ func (ws *WebhookServer) handlerFunc(handler func(request *v1beta1.AdmissionRequ
 
 		admissionReview.Response = handler(request)
 		writeResponse(rw, admissionReview)
-		logger.V(3).Info("admission review request processed", "time", time.Since(startTime).String())
+		logger.V(4).Info("admission review request processed", "time", time.Since(startTime).String())
 
 		return
 	}