diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
index 3f1353efea..d29d1f1d21 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ on:
       http-client:
         type: string
         required: false
-        default: 'vertx'
+        default: 'vertx-5'
       experimental:
         type: boolean
         required: false
diff --git a/docs/content/en/docs/migration/v5-7-migration.md b/docs/content/en/docs/migration/v5-7-migration.md
index a5fb257fd3..8d735c8acd 100644
--- a/docs/content/en/docs/migration/v5-7-migration.md
+++ b/docs/content/en/docs/migration/v5-7-migration.md
@@ -41,3 +41,40 @@ Other notable Jackson 3 differences:
 ```java
 client.pods().withShardSelector((String) null);
 ```
+
+## Default HTTP client is now Vert.x 5
+
+The `operator-framework` artifact now brings the Vert.x 5 based HTTP client of the Fabric8 client
+(`kubernetes-httpclient-vertx-5`), which is also the default of the Fabric8 client itself, instead of
+the JDK one (`kubernetes-httpclient-jdk`). If your operator doesn't declare an HTTP client
+implementation of its own there is nothing to do, it gets the new default. To keep using the JDK
+client, or to use another implementation, exclude the default from the `operator-framework`
+dependency and add the one you want:
+
+```xml
+<dependency>
+  <groupId>io.javaoperatorsdk</groupId>
+  <artifactId>operator-framework</artifactId>
+  <exclusions>
+    <exclusion>
+      <groupId>io.fabric8</groupId>
+      <artifactId>kubernetes-httpclient-vertx-5</artifactId>
+    </exclusion>
+  </exclusions>
+</dependency>
+<dependency>
+  <groupId>io.fabric8</groupId>
+  <artifactId>kubernetes-httpclient-jdk</artifactId>
+  <version>8.0.0</version>
+</dependency>
+```
+
+The implementations provided as part of the Fabric8 client all follow the
+`kubernetes-httpclient-<implementation name>` pattern for their artifact identifier.
+
+If your operator already replaced the default HTTP client, update the exclusion: excluding
+`kubernetes-httpclient-jdk` no longer has any effect and `kubernetes-httpclient-vertx-5` would end up
+on the classpath next to your implementation. This is especially important if you use the Vert.x 4
+based client (`kubernetes-httpclient-vertx`), since Vert.x 4 and Vert.x 5 cannot be used together.
+If you want to keep the Vert.x 4 based client, use it in place of `kubernetes-httpclient-jdk` in the
+snippet above.
diff --git a/micrometer-support/pom.xml b/micrometer-support/pom.xml
index ae3c4d0be1..29dcf1f9f5 100644
--- a/micrometer-support/pom.xml
+++ b/micrometer-support/pom.xml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.fabric8</groupId>
-      <artifactId>kubernetes-httpclient-vertx</artifactId>
+      <artifactId>kubernetes-httpclient-${fabric8-httpclient-impl.name}</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7bb23fa1bd..6cfc9b84ee 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
     <sonar.organization>java-operator-sdk</sonar.organization>
     <sonar.host.url>https://sonarcloud.io</sonar.host.url>
-    <fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>jdk</fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>
+    <fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>vertx-5</fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>
     <junit.version>6.1.3</junit.version>
     <fabric8-client.version>8.0.0</fabric8-client.version>
     <slf4j.version>2.0.20</slf4j.version>
diff --git a/sample-operators/tomcat-operator/pom.xml b/sample-operators/tomcat-operator/pom.xml
index ea964a2b07..0a05fffc1c 100644
--- a/sample-operators/tomcat-operator/pom.xml
+++ b/sample-operators/tomcat-operator/pom.xml
@@ -53,10 +53,6 @@
         </exclusion>
       </exclusions>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>io.fabric8</groupId>
-      <artifactId>kubernetes-httpclient-vertx</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>log4j-slf4j2-impl</artifactId>