diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
index 396575b5efb6..edeca6c6f382 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ spec:
             - name: DEBUG
               value: "false"
             - name: SHIMS
-              value: "clh cloud-hypervisor dragonball fc qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx qemu qemu-coco-dev stratovirt qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx"
+              value: "clh cloud-hypervisor dragonball fc qemu-runtime-rs qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx qemu qemu-coco-dev stratovirt qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx"
             - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
               value: "qemu"
             - name: CREATE_RUNTIMECLASSES
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
index 98817a508f2b..387f55cd4267 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ spec:
             - name: DEBUG
               value: "false"
             - name: SHIMS
-              value: "clh cloud-hypervisor dragonball fc qemu qemu-coco-dev qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx stratovirt qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx"
+              value: "clh cloud-hypervisor dragonball fc qemu qemu-coco-dev qemu-runtime-rs qemu-sev qemu-snp qemu-tdx stratovirt qemu-nvidia-gpu qemu-nvidia-gpu-snp qemu-nvidia-gpu-tdx"
             - name: DEFAULT_SHIM
               value: "qemu"
             - name: CREATE_RUNTIMECLASSES
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-qemu-runtime-rs.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-qemu-runtime-rs.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f92a3ea1c016
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-qemu-runtime-rs.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+kind: RuntimeClass
+apiVersion: node.k8s.io/v1
+metadata:
+    name: kata-qemu-runtime-rs
+handler: kata-qemu-runtime-rs
+overhead:
+    podFixed:
+        memory: "160Mi"
+        cpu: "250m"
+scheduling:
+  nodeSelector:
+    katacontainers.io/kata-runtime: "true"
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-runtimeClasses.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-runtimeClasses.yaml
index 06d60e7dc36b..82a5c650c6a7 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-runtimeClasses.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/runtimeclasses/kata-runtimeClasses.yaml
@@ -105,6 +105,19 @@ scheduling:
 ---
 kind: RuntimeClass
 apiVersion: node.k8s.io/v1
+metadata:
+    name: kata-qemu-runtime-rs
+handler: kata-qemu-runtime-rs
+overhead:
+    podFixed:
+        memory: "160Mi"
+        cpu: "250m"
+scheduling:
+  nodeSelector:
+    katacontainers.io/kata-runtime: "true"
+---
+kind: RuntimeClass
+apiVersion: node.k8s.io/v1
 metadata:
     name: kata-qemu-se
 handler: kata-qemu-se
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
index 27be984a2cfe..23c3a291f5e8 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ function get_kata_containers_config_path() {
 	# Map the runtime shim name to the appropriate configuration
 	# file directory.
 	case "$shim" in
-		cloud-hypervisor | dragonball) config_path="$rust_config_path" ;;
+		cloud-hypervisor | dragonball | qemu-runtime-rs) config_path="$rust_config_path" ;;
 		*) config_path="$golang_config_path" ;;
 	esac
 
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ function configure_different_shims_base() {
 		# Map the runtime shim name to the appropriate
 		# containerd-shim-kata-v2 binary
 		case "$shim" in
-			cloud-hypervisor | dragonball)
+			cloud-hypervisor | dragonball | qemu-runtime-rs)
 				ln -sf /opt/kata/runtime-rs/bin/containerd-shim-kata-v2 "${shim_file}" ;;
 			*)
 				ln -sf /opt/kata/bin/containerd-shim-kata-v2 "${shim_file}" ;;