diff --git a/config-reloader/controller/controller.go b/config-reloader/controller/controller.go
index c0843a5d..e6232e82 100644
--- a/config-reloader/controller/controller.go
+++ b/config-reloader/controller/controller.go
@@ -11,17 +11,18 @@ import (
 	"github.com/vmware/kube-fluentd-operator/config-reloader/datasource"
 	"github.com/vmware/kube-fluentd-operator/config-reloader/fluentd"
 	"github.com/vmware/kube-fluentd-operator/config-reloader/generator"
+	"github.com/vmware/kube-fluentd-operator/config-reloader/util"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 type Controller struct {
-	Updater          Updater
-	OutputDir        string
-	Reloader         *fluentd.Reloader
-	Datasource       datasource.Datasource
-	Generator        *generator.Generator
-	NumTotalConfigNS int
+	Updater        Updater
+	OutputDir      string
+	Reloader       *fluentd.Reloader
+	Datasource     datasource.Datasource
+	Generator      *generator.Generator
+	AllConfigsHash uint64
 }
 
 func (c *Controller) Run(ctx context.Context, stop <-chan struct{}) {
@@ -104,15 +105,20 @@ func (c *Controller) RunOnce(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 		if newHash != nsConfig.PreviousConfigHash {
 			needsReload = true
+			logrus.Debugf("Previous Config hash for ns %s is %v", nsConfig.Name, nsConfig.PreviousConfigHash)
+			logrus.Debugf("New Config hash for ns %s is %v", nsConfig.Name, newHash)
 			c.Datasource.WriteCurrentConfigHash(nsConfig.Name, newHash)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// lastly, if number of configs has changed, then need to reload configurations obviously!
+	// lastly, if number of all configs has changed, then need to reload configurations obviously!
 	// this means a crd was deleted or reapplied, and GetNamespaces does not return it anymore
-	if c.NumTotalConfigNS != len(allConfigNamespaces) {
+	// metahashing, hashing the object of hashes :)
+	allConfigsHash, _ := util.MakeStructureHash(configHashes)
+	if c.AllConfigsHash != allConfigsHash {
 		needsReload = true
-		c.NumTotalConfigNS = len(allConfigNamespaces)
+		c.AllConfigsHash = allConfigsHash
+		logrus.Debugf("All Configs hash for all KFO is %v", c.AllConfigsHash)
 	}
 
 	if needsReload {
diff --git a/config-reloader/datasource/fake.go b/config-reloader/datasource/fake.go
index ddaa11d8..aa016073 100644
--- a/config-reloader/datasource/fake.go
+++ b/config-reloader/datasource/fake.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ var template = `
 `
 
 type fakeDatasource struct {
-	hashes map[string]string
+	confHashes map[string]string
 }
 
 func makeFakeConfig(namespace string) string {
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (d *fakeDatasource) GetNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]*NamespaceConfig,
 }
 
 func (d *fakeDatasource) WriteCurrentConfigHash(namespace string, hash string) {
-	d.hashes[namespace] = hash
+	d.confHashes[namespace] = hash
 }
 
 func (d *fakeDatasource) UpdateStatus(ctx context.Context, namespace string, status string) {
@@ -69,6 +69,6 @@ func (d *fakeDatasource) UpdateStatus(ctx context.Context, namespace string, sta
 // NewFakeDatasource returns a predefined set of namespaces + configs
 func NewFakeDatasource(ctx context.Context) Datasource {
 	return &fakeDatasource{
-		hashes: make(map[string]string),
+		confHashes: make(map[string]string),
 	}
 }
diff --git a/config-reloader/datasource/fs.go b/config-reloader/datasource/fs.go
index 4ef9db5a..ac1ccfa7 100644
--- a/config-reloader/datasource/fs.go
+++ b/config-reloader/datasource/fs.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type fsDatasource struct {
-	hashes          map[string]string
+	confHashes      map[string]string
 	rootDir         string
 	statusOutputDir string
 }
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func (d *fsDatasource) GetNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]*NamespaceConfig, e
 		cfg := &NamespaceConfig{
 			Name:               ns,
 			FluentdConfig:      string(contents),
-			PreviousConfigHash: d.hashes[ns],
+			PreviousConfigHash: d.confHashes[ns],
 		}
 
 		logrus.Infof("Loading namespace %s from file %s", ns, f)
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func (d *fsDatasource) GetNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]*NamespaceConfig, e
 }
 
 func (d *fsDatasource) WriteCurrentConfigHash(namespace string, hash string) {
-	d.hashes[namespace] = hash
+	d.confHashes[namespace] = hash
 }
 
 func (d *fsDatasource) UpdateStatus(ctx context.Context, namespace string, status string) {
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func (d *fsDatasource) UpdateStatus(ctx context.Context, namespace string, statu
 // NewFileSystemDatasource turns all files matching *.conf patter in the given dir into namespace configs
 func NewFileSystemDatasource(ctx context.Context, rootDir string, statusOutputDir string) Datasource {
 	return &fsDatasource{
-		hashes:          make(map[string]string),
+		confHashes:      make(map[string]string),
 		rootDir:         rootDir,
 		statusOutputDir: statusOutputDir,
 	}
diff --git a/config-reloader/datasource/kube_informer.go b/config-reloader/datasource/kube_informer.go
index 748da019..380da35f 100644
--- a/config-reloader/datasource/kube_informer.go
+++ b/config-reloader/datasource/kube_informer.go
@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ import (
 )
 
 type kubeInformerConnection struct {
-	client  kubernetes.Interface
-	hashes  map[string]string
-	cfg     *config.Config
-	kubeds  kubedatasource.KubeDS
-	nslist  listerv1.NamespaceLister
-	podlist listerv1.PodLister
-	cmlist  listerv1.ConfigMapLister
-	fdlist  kfoListersV1beta1.FluentdConfigLister
+	client     kubernetes.Interface
+	confHashes map[string]string
+	cfg        *config.Config
+	kubeds     kubedatasource.KubeDS
+	nslist     listerv1.NamespaceLister
+	podlist    listerv1.PodLister
+	cmlist     listerv1.ConfigMapLister
+	fdlist     kfoListersV1beta1.FluentdConfigLister
 }
 
 // GetNamespaces queries the configured Kubernetes API to generate a list of NamespaceConfig objects.
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (d *kubeInformerConnection) GetNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]*Namespac
 		nsconfigs = append(nsconfigs, &NamespaceConfig{
 			Name:               ns,
 			FluentdConfig:      configdata,
-			PreviousConfigHash: d.hashes[ns],
+			PreviousConfigHash: d.confHashes[ns],
 			Labels:             nsobj.Labels,
 			MiniContainers:     minis,
 		})
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func (d *kubeInformerConnection) GetNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]*Namespac
 
 // WriteCurrentConfigHash is a setter for the hashtable maintained by this Datasource
 func (d *kubeInformerConnection) WriteCurrentConfigHash(namespace string, hash string) {
-	d.hashes[namespace] = hash
+	d.confHashes[namespace] = hash
 }
 
 // UpdateStatus updates a namespace's status annotation with the latest result
@@ -168,6 +168,13 @@ func (d *kubeInformerConnection) discoverNamespaces(ctx context.Context) ([]stri
 				for _, cfmap := range confMapsList {
 					if cfmap.ObjectMeta.Name == d.cfg.DefaultConfigmapName {
 						namespaces = append(namespaces, cfmap.ObjectMeta.Namespace)
+					} else {
+						// We need to find configmaps that honor the global annotation for configmaps:
+						configMapNamespace, _ := d.nslist.Get(cfmap.ObjectMeta.Namespace)
+						configMapName := configMapNamespace.Annotations[d.cfg.AnnotConfigmapName]
+						if configMapName != "" {
+							namespaces = append(namespaces, cfmap.ObjectMeta.Namespace)
+						}
 					}
 				}
 			} else {
@@ -253,6 +260,23 @@ func NewKubernetesInformerDatasource(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, up
 		}
 	}
 
+	factory.Core().V1().Pods().Informer().AddEventHandler(cache.ResourceEventHandlerFuncs{
+		AddFunc: func(new interface{}) {
+			select {
+			case updateChan <- time.Now():
+			default:
+			}
+		},
+		UpdateFunc: func(old, new interface{}) {
+		},
+		DeleteFunc: func(new interface{}) {
+			select {
+			case updateChan <- time.Now():
+			default:
+			}
+		},
+	})
+
 	factory.Start(nil)
 	if !cache.WaitForCacheSync(nil,
 		factory.Core().V1().Namespaces().Informer().HasSynced,
@@ -264,13 +288,13 @@ func NewKubernetesInformerDatasource(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, up
 	logrus.Infof("Synced local informer with upstream Kubernetes API")
 
 	return &kubeInformerConnection{
-		client:  client,
-		hashes:  make(map[string]string),
-		cfg:     cfg,
-		kubeds:  kubeds,
-		nslist:  namespaceLister,
-		podlist: podLister,
-		cmlist:  cmLister,
-		fdlist:  fluentdconfigDSLister.Fdlist,
+		client:     client,
+		confHashes: make(map[string]string),
+		cfg:        cfg,
+		kubeds:     kubeds,
+		nslist:     namespaceLister,
+		podlist:    podLister,
+		cmlist:     cmLister,
+		fdlist:     fluentdconfigDSLister.Fdlist,
 	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/config-reloader/go.mod b/config-reloader/go.mod
index 85d29881..ab8b2108 100644
--- a/config-reloader/go.mod
+++ b/config-reloader/go.mod
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.11.0
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.7.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1
+	github.com/mitchellh/hashstructure/v2 v2.0.2
 	k8s.io/api v0.21.4
 	k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver v0.21.4
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.21.4
diff --git a/config-reloader/go.sum b/config-reloader/go.sum
index 70a1d542..404b7edd 100644
--- a/config-reloader/go.sum
+++ b/config-reloader/go.sum
@@ -257,6 +257,8 @@ github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.0.0/go.mod h1:SfyaCUpYCn1Vlf4IUYiD9fPX4A5wJrk
 github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir v1.1.0/go.mod h1:SfyaCUpYCn1Vlf4IUYiD9fPX4A5wJrkLzIz1N1q0pr0=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-testing-interface v1.0.0/go.mod h1:kRemZodwjscx+RGhAo8eIhFbs2+BFgRtFPeD/KE+zxI=
 github.com/mitchellh/gox v0.4.0/go.mod h1:Sd9lOJ0+aimLBi73mGofS1ycjY8lL3uZM3JPS42BGNg=
+github.com/mitchellh/hashstructure/v2 v2.0.2 h1:vGKWl0YJqUNxE8d+h8f6NJLcCJrgbhC4NcD46KavDd4=
+github.com/mitchellh/hashstructure/v2 v2.0.2/go.mod h1:MG3aRVU/N29oo/V/IhBX8GR/zz4kQkprJgF2EVszyDE=
 github.com/mitchellh/iochan v1.0.0/go.mod h1:JwYml1nuB7xOzsp52dPpHFffvOCDupsG0QubkSMEySY=
 github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v0.0.0-20160808181253-ca63d7c062ee/go.mod h1:FVVH3fgwuzCH5S8UJGiWEs2h04kUh9fWfEaFds41c1Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.1.2/go.mod h1:FVVH3fgwuzCH5S8UJGiWEs2h04kUh9fWfEaFds41c1Y=
diff --git a/config-reloader/util/util.go b/config-reloader/util/util.go
index 45c803f2..1f38caf8 100644
--- a/config-reloader/util/util.go
+++ b/config-reloader/util/util.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/hashstructure/v2"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os/exec"
 	"sort"
@@ -123,3 +124,23 @@ func TrimTrailingComment(line string) string {
 
 	return line
 }
+
+func MakeStructureHash(v interface{}) (uint64, error) {
+	hashV, err := hashstructure.Hash(v, hashstructure.FormatV2, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return hashV, err
+	}
+
+	return hashV, nil
+}
+
+func AreStructureHashEqual(v interface{}, f interface{}) bool {
+	hashV, _ := hashstructure.Hash(v, hashstructure.FormatV2, nil)
+	hashF, _ := hashstructure.Hash(f, hashstructure.FormatV2, nil)
+
+	if hashV != 0 && hashF != 0 {
+		return hashV == hashF
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/config-reloader/util/util_test.go b/config-reloader/util/util_test.go
index d54a3ff9..11a83d26 100644
--- a/config-reloader/util/util_test.go
+++ b/config-reloader/util/util_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,32 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+type Mount struct {
+	Path       string
+	VolumeName string
+	SubPath    string
+}
+
+// MiniContainer container subset with the parent pod's metadata
+type MiniContainer struct {
+	// the pod id
+	PodID   string
+	PodName string
+
+	Image       string
+	ContainerID string
+
+	// pod labels
+	Labels map[string]string
+
+	// container name
+	Name string
+	// only the emptyDir mounts, never empty, sorted by len(Path), descending
+	HostMounts []*Mount
+
+	NodeName string
+}
+
 func TestMakeFluentdSafeName(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "a", MakeFluentdSafeName("a"))
 	assert.Equal(t, "123", MakeFluentdSafeName("123"))
@@ -41,3 +67,49 @@ func TestTrimTrailingComment(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "a", TrimTrailingComment("a"))
 	assert.Equal(t, "a", TrimTrailingComment("a#########"))
 }
+
+func TestMakeStructureHash(t *testing.T) {
+	mini1 := &MiniContainer{
+		PodID:       "4b519aaf-67f1-4588-8164-f679b2298e25",
+		PodName:     "kfo-log-router-nwxtj",
+		Name:        "config-reloader",
+		NodeName:    "vdp-dev-control-plane",
+		Image:       "testing/kfo:delete-problems-3",
+		ContainerID: "containerd://37dce75ed2f01c5f858b4c4cc96b23ebacaba6569af93ed64b3904be9a676cb1",
+	}
+
+	hashMini1, err := MakeStructureHash(mini1)
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, uint64(0xa92a93a3863f8fd6), hashMini1)
+}
+
+func TestAreStructureHashEqual(t *testing.T) {
+	mini1 := &MiniContainer{
+		PodID:       "4b519aaf-67f1-4588-8164-f679b2298e25",
+		PodName:     "kfo-log-router-nwxtj",
+		Name:        "config-reloader",
+		NodeName:    "vdp-dev-control-plane",
+		Image:       "testing/kfo:delete-problems-3",
+		ContainerID: "containerd://37dce75ed2f01c5f858b4c4cc96b23ebacaba6569af93ed64b3904be9a676cb1",
+	}
+	mini2 := &MiniContainer{
+		PodID:       "4b519aaf-67f1-4588-8164-f679b2298e25",
+		PodName:     "kfo-log-router-nwxtj",
+		Name:        "config-reloader",
+		NodeName:    "vdp-dev-control-plane",
+		Image:       "testing/kfo:delete-problems-3",
+		ContainerID: "containerd://37dce75ed2f01c5f858b4c4cc96b23ebacaba6569af93ed64b3904be9a676cb1",
+	}
+	mini3 := &MiniContainer{
+		PodID:       "4b519aaf-67f1-4588-8164-f679b2298e25",
+		PodName:     "kfo-log-router-next",
+		Name:        "config-reloader",
+		NodeName:    "vdp-dev-control-plane",
+		Image:       "testing/kfo:delete-problems-3",
+		ContainerID: "containerd://37dce75ed2f01c5f858b4c4cc96b23ebacaba6569af93ed64b3904be9a676cb1",
+	}
+
+	assert.Equal(t, true, AreStructureHashEqual(mini1, mini2))
+	assert.NotEqual(t, true, AreStructureHashEqual(mini1, mini3))
+	assert.Equal(t, false, AreStructureHashEqual(mini1, mini3))
+}