diff --git a/internal/controller/suite_test.go b/internal/controller/suite_test.go
index 7cd1ef8f..0d2ef345 100644
--- a/internal/controller/suite_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/suite_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package controller
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"testing"
@@ -66,6 +67,11 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 			fmt.Sprintf("1.29.0-%s-%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)),
 	}
 
+	_, set := os.LookupEnv("OPERATOR_NAMESPACE")
+	if !set {
+		Expect(os.Setenv("OPERATOR_NAMESPACE", "ceph-csi-operator-system")).To(Succeed())
+	}
+
 	var err error
 	// cfg is defined in this file globally.
 	cfg, err = testEnv.Start()