diff --git a/app/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/inventory_collections.rb b/app/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/inventory_collections.rb
index da6be923f9..e06a4eb0b3 100644
--- a/app/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/inventory_collections.rb
+++ b/app/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/inventory_collections.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ def initialize_inventory_collections(ems)
       :builder_params => {:ems_id => ems.id},
       :association    => :container_projects,
       :secondary_refs => {:by_name => [:name]},
+      :delete_method        => :disconnect_inv,
     )
     initialize_custom_attributes_collections(ems.container_projects, %w(labels additional_attributes))
 
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ def initialize_inventory_collections(ems)
         # TODO: old save matches on [:image_ref, :container_image_registry_id]
         # TODO: should match on digest when available
         :manager_ref    => [:image_ref],
+        :delete_method  => :disconnect_inv,
       )
     initialize_custom_attributes_collections(ems.container_images, %w(labels docker_labels))
 
@@ -99,6 +101,7 @@ def initialize_inventory_collections(ems)
         :association          => :container_groups,
         :secondary_refs       => {:by_namespace_and_name => [:namespace, :name]},
         :attributes_blacklist => [:namespace],
+        :delete_method        => :disconnect_inv,
       )
     initialize_container_conditions_collection(ems.container_groups)
     initialize_custom_attributes_collections(ems.container_groups, %w(labels node_selectors))
@@ -109,6 +112,7 @@ def initialize_inventory_collections(ems)
         :builder_params => {:ems_id => ems.id},
         :association    => :container_definitions,
         # parser sets :ems_ref => "#{pod_id}_#{container_def.name}_#{container_def.image}"
+        :delete_method  => :disconnect_inv,
       )
     @inv_collections[:container_volumes] =
       ::ManagerRefresh::InventoryCollection.new(
@@ -124,6 +128,7 @@ def initialize_inventory_collections(ems)
         :builder_params => {:ems_id => ems.id},
         :association    => :containers,
         # parser sets :ems_ref => "#{pod_id}_#{container.name}_#{container.image}"
+        :delete_method  => :disconnect_inv,
       )
     @inv_collections[:container_port_configs] =
       ::ManagerRefresh::InventoryCollection.new(
diff --git a/spec/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/refresher_spec.rb b/spec/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/refresher_spec.rb
index dcf7c947f8..2b3dbc6b95 100644
--- a/spec/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/refresher_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/manageiq/providers/kubernetes/container_manager/refresher_spec.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-describe ManageIQ::Providers::Kubernetes::ContainerManager::Refresher do
+# instantiated at the end, for both classical and graph refresh
+shared_examples "kubernetes refresher VCR tests" do |check_tag_mapping: true|
+  let(:check_tag_mapping) { check_tag_mapping }
+
   before(:each) do
     allow(MiqServer).to receive(:my_zone).and_return("default")
     auth = AuthToken.new(:name => "test", :auth_key => "valid-token")
@@ -28,8 +31,6 @@
     )
   end
 
-  let(:check_tag_mapping) { true }
-
   def full_refresh_test
     3.times do # Run three times to verify that second & third runs with existing data do not change anything
       VCR.use_cassette(described_class.name.underscore) do # , :record => :new_episodes) do
@@ -61,22 +62,6 @@ def full_refresh_test
     full_refresh_test
   end
 
-  describe "graph refresh" do
-    let(:check_tag_mapping) { false } # TODO: pending implementation
-
-    it "will perform a full refresh with inventory_objects on k8s" do
-      stub_settings_merge(
-        :ems_refresh => {
-          :kubernetes => {
-            :inventory_object_refresh => true
-          }
-        }
-      )
-
-      full_refresh_test
-    end
-  end
-
   def assert_table_counts
     expect(ContainerGroup.count).to eq(2)
     expect(ContainerNode.count).to eq(2)
@@ -528,3 +513,30 @@ def assert_disconnected(object)
     expect(object.archived?).to be true
   end
 end
+
+describe ManageIQ::Providers::Kubernetes::ContainerManager::Refresher do
+  context "classical refresh" do
+    before(:each) do
+      stub_settings_merge(
+        :ems_refresh => {:kubernetes => {:inventory_object_refresh => false}}
+      )
+
+      expect(ManageIQ::Providers::Kubernetes::ContainerManager::RefreshParser).not_to receive(:ems_inv_to_inv_collections)
+    end
+
+    include_examples "kubernetes refresher VCR tests"
+  end
+
+  context "graph refresh" do
+    before(:each) do
+      stub_settings_merge(
+        :ems_refresh => {:kubernetes => {:inventory_object_refresh => true}}
+      )
+
+      expect(ManageIQ::Providers::Kubernetes::ContainerManager::RefreshParser).not_to receive(:ems_inv_to_hashes)
+    end
+
+    # TODO: pending graph tag mapping implementation
+    include_examples "kubernetes refresher VCR tests", :check_tag_mapping => false
+  end
+end