diff --git a/templates/_helpers.tpl b/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 2e443441f..23baf8882 100644
--- a/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -470,6 +470,31 @@ Sets extra injector service annotations
   {{- end }}
 {{- end -}}
 
+{{/*
+securityContext for the injector pod level.
+*/}}
+{{- define "injector.securityContext.pod" -}}
+  {{- if or (.Values.injector.uid) (.Values.injector.gid) }}
+      securityContext:
+        runAsNonRoot: true
+        runAsGroup: {{ .Values.injector.gid | default 1000 }}
+        runAsUser: {{ .Values.injector.uid | default 100 }}
+  {{- else if .Values.injector.securityContext.pod }}
+      securityContext:
+        {{- toYaml .Values.injector.securityContext.pod | nindent 8 }}
+  {{- end }}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{/*
+securityContext for the injector container level.
+*/}}
+{{- define "injector.securityContext.container" -}}
+  {{- if .Values.injector.securityContext.container}}
+          securityContext:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.injector.securityContext.container | nindent 12 }}
+  {{- end }}
+{{- end -}} 
+
 {{/*
 Sets extra injector service account annotations
 */}}
diff --git a/templates/injector-deployment.yaml b/templates/injector-deployment.yaml
index d65525b8b..ccc5b922e 100644
--- a/templates/injector-deployment.yaml
+++ b/templates/injector-deployment.yaml
@@ -40,10 +40,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: "{{ template "vault.fullname" . }}-agent-injector"
       {{- if not .Values.global.openshift }}
       hostNetwork: {{ .Values.injector.hostNetwork }}
-      securityContext:
-        runAsNonRoot: true
-        runAsGroup: {{ .Values.injector.gid | default 1000 }}
-        runAsUser: {{ .Values.injector.uid | default 100 }}
+      {{ template "injector.securityContext.pod" . -}}
       {{- end }}
       containers:
         - name: sidecar-injector
@@ -51,8 +48,7 @@ spec:
           image: "{{ .Values.injector.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.injector.image.tag }}"
           imagePullPolicy: "{{ .Values.injector.image.pullPolicy }}"
           {{- if not .Values.global.openshift }}
-          securityContext:
-            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+          {{ template "injector.securityContext.container" . -}}
           {{- end }}
           env:
             - name: AGENT_INJECT_LISTEN
diff --git a/test/unit/injector-deployment.bats b/test/unit/injector-deployment.bats
index fc276eeab..477f78366 100755
--- a/test/unit/injector-deployment.bats
+++ b/test/unit/injector-deployment.bats
@@ -363,6 +363,122 @@ load _helpers
   [ "${value}" = "false" ]
 }
 
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------
+# securityContext or pod and container
+
+# for backward compatibility
+@test "injector/deployment: backward pod securityContext" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'injector.uid=200' \
+      --set 'injector.gid=4000' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext' | tee /dev/stderr)
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .runAsUser | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "200" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .runAsGroup | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "4000" ]
+}
+
+@test "injector/deployment: default pod securityContext" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" != "null" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .fsGroup | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "1000" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .runAsGroup | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "1000" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .runAsNonRoot | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "true" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .runAsUser | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "100" ]
+}
+
+@test "injector/deployment: custom pod securityContext" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsNonRoot=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsGroup=1001' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsUser=1001' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.fsGroup=1000' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext.runAsGroup' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "1001" ]
+
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsNonRoot=false' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsGroup=1000' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext.runAsNonRoot' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsUser=1001' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.fsGroup=1000' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext.runAsUser' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "1001" ]
+
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.runAsNonRoot=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.pod.fsGroup=1001' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.securityContext.fsGroup' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "1001" ]
+}
+
+@test "injector/deployment: default container securityContext sidecar-injector" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].securityContext' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" != "null" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .allowPrivilegeEscalation | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "false" ]
+
+  local value=$(echo $actual | yq -r .capabilities.drop[0] | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${value}" = "ALL" ]
+}
+
+@test "injector/deployment: custom container securityContext sidecar-injector" {
+  cd `chart_dir`
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.container.privileged=true' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].securityContext.privileged' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
+
+  local actual=$(helm template \
+      --show-only templates/injector-deployment.yaml  \
+      --set 'injector.enabled=true' \
+      --set 'injector.securityContext.container.readOnlyRootFilesystem=false' \
+      . | tee /dev/stderr |
+      yq -r '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].securityContext.readOnlyRootFilesystem' | tee /dev/stderr)
+  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+}
+
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # extraEnvironmentVars
 
diff --git a/values.yaml b/values.yaml
index 468d64161..8cccdddb9 100644
--- a/values.yaml
+++ b/values.yaml
@@ -202,6 +202,19 @@ injector:
     certName: tls.crt
     keyName: tls.key
 
+  # Default pod and container security context for vault-injector
+  securityContext:
+    pod:
+      runAsNonRoot: true
+      runAsGroup: 1000
+      runAsUser: 100
+      fsGroup: 1000
+    container:
+      allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
+      capabilities:
+        drop:
+          - ALL
+
   resources: {}
   # resources:
   #   requests: