diff --git a/controllers/instance/statefulset.go b/controllers/instance/statefulset.go
index 8ff5819..7b2dadd 100644
--- a/controllers/instance/statefulset.go
+++ b/controllers/instance/statefulset.go
@@ -301,10 +301,6 @@ func compileEnvVars(instance *proxyv1alpha1.Instance) []corev1.EnvVar {
 	for k, v := range instance.Spec.Env {
 		envVars = append(envVars, corev1.EnvVar{Name: k, Value: v})
 	}
-
-	sort.Slice(envVars, func(i, j int) bool {
-		return envVars[i].Name < envVars[j].Name
-	})
 	return envVars
 }
 
@@ -312,10 +308,27 @@ func needsUpdate(oldStatefulSet, newStatefulSet *appsv1.StatefulSet) bool {
 	oldCpy := oldStatefulSet.DeepCopy()
 	newCpy := newStatefulSet.DeepCopy()
 
+	normalizeEnvs(oldCpy)
+	normalizeEnvs(newCpy)
+
 	removeIrrelevantProperties(oldCpy)
 	removeIrrelevantProperties(newCpy)
 
-	return !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldCpy.Spec, newCpy.Spec) || !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldCpy.OwnerReferences, newCpy.OwnerReferences)
+	return !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldCpy.Spec, newCpy.Spec) ||
+		!equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldCpy.OwnerReferences, newCpy.OwnerReferences)
+}
+
+func normalizeEnvs(statefulSet *appsv1.StatefulSet) {
+	for ii := range statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers {
+		sort.Slice(statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[ii].Env, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[ii].Env[i].Name < statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[ii].Env[j].Name
+		})
+	}
+	for ii := range statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers {
+		sort.Slice(statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers[ii].Env, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers[ii].Env[i].Name < statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers[ii].Env[j].Name
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 func removeIrrelevantProperties(ss *appsv1.StatefulSet) {
diff --git a/controllers/instance/statefulset_test.go b/controllers/instance/statefulset_test.go
index 4fbb634..447d36a 100644
--- a/controllers/instance/statefulset_test.go
+++ b/controllers/instance/statefulset_test.go
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ var _ = Describe("Reconcile", Label("controller"), func() {
 						},
 					},
 					Labels: labels,
+					Env: map[string]string{
+						"WATCH_PATH":    "/a/b",
+						"SHUTDOWN_WAIT": "15m",
+					},
 				},
 			}
 
@@ -87,6 +91,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Reconcile", Label("controller"), func() {
 				"      then echo 'timeout waiting for IP 10.158.182.27, aborting'\n      exit 1\n    fi\n    echo 'waiting for IP 10.158.182.27 to be assigned...'\n" +
 				"    sleep 5\n  done\n\n  echo 'IP 10.158.182.27 assignment verified, waiting 5 seconds before continuing...'\n\n" +
 				"  sleep 5\n\n  echo -n \"BIND_ADDRESS=10.158.182.27\" > /var/lib/haproxy/run/env\n  cat /var/lib/haproxy/run/env\n  exit 0\nfi\n\nexit 1\n"))
+			Ω(statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Env).Should(HaveLen(4))
 		})
 
 		It("update only on spec change", func() {