diff --git a/argocd/manifests/argocd/external-secret-repo-forge.yaml b/argocd/manifests/argocd/external-secret-repo-forge.yaml
index a8022ad..f7fd74e 100644
--- a/argocd/manifests/argocd/external-secret-repo-forge.yaml
+++ b/argocd/manifests/argocd/external-secret-repo-forge.yaml
@@ -26,5 +26,8 @@ spec:
   data:
   - secretKey: privateKey
     remoteRef:
+      conversionStrategy: Default
+      decodingStrategy: None
       key: argocd-forge-ssh-key
+      metadataPolicy: None
       property: private-key-openssh
diff --git a/docs/changelog.d/main.infra.md b/docs/changelog.d/main.infra.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da6fc47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog.d/main.infra.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add explicit ExternalSecret defaults for SSA sync parity with ArgoCD v3.3