diff --git a/pkg/operator/controller/ingress/load_balancer_service.go b/pkg/operator/controller/ingress/load_balancer_service.go
index b19667e6e7..151d2f3386 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/controller/ingress/load_balancer_service.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/controller/ingress/load_balancer_service.go
@@ -235,6 +235,8 @@ func desiredLoadBalancerService(ci *operatorv1.IngressController, deploymentRef
 		service.Annotations = map[string]string{}
 	}
 
+	service.Annotations["traffic-policy.network.openshift.io/prefer-local"] = ""
+
 	if proxyNeeded {
 		service.Annotations[awsLBProxyProtocolAnnotation] = "*"
 	}