diff --git a/pkg/test/case.go b/pkg/test/case.go
index bff89162..12ac7e18 100644
--- a/pkg/test/case.go
+++ b/pkg/test/case.go
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ func (t *Case) determineNamespace() *namespace {
 	}
 	// no preferred ns, means we auto-create with petnames
 	if t.PreferredNamespace == "" {
-		ns.Name = fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(2, "-"))
+		ns.Name = fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(4, "-"))
 		ns.AutoCreated = true
 	}
 	// if we have a preferred namespace, we do NOT auto-create
diff --git a/pkg/test/step_integration_test.go b/pkg/test/step_integration_test.go
index cf0d517d..1db3c0ce 100644
--- a/pkg/test/step_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/test/step_integration_test.go
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func TestCheckResourceIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 	} {
 		test := test
 		t.Run(test.testName, func(t *testing.T) {
-			namespace := fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(2, "-"))
+			namespace := fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(4, "-"))
 
 			err := testenv.Client.Create(context.TODO(), testutils.NewResource("v1", "Namespace", namespace, ""))
 			if !k8serrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ func TestStepFailure(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	namespace := fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(2, "-"))
+	namespace := fmt.Sprintf("kuttl-test-%s", petname.Generate(4, "-"))
 
 	err := testenv.Client.Create(context.TODO(), testutils.NewResource("v1", "Namespace", namespace, ""))
 	if !k8serrors.IsAlreadyExists(err) {