diff --git a/tools/clientcmd/client_config.go b/tools/clientcmd/client_config.go
index 93e99a94..66331a7a 100644
--- a/tools/clientcmd/client_config.go
+++ b/tools/clientcmd/client_config.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/imdario/mergo"
 
-	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	restclient "k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	clientauth "k8s.io/client-go/tools/auth"
 	clientcmdapi "k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd/api"
@@ -338,7 +337,7 @@ func (config *DirectClientConfig) Namespace() (string, bool, error) {
 	}
 
 	if len(configContext.Namespace) == 0 {
-		return v1.NamespaceDefault, false, nil
+		return "default", false, nil
 	}
 
 	return configContext.Namespace, false, nil
diff --git a/tools/clientcmd/merged_client_builder.go b/tools/clientcmd/merged_client_builder.go
index 3f02111b..05038133 100644
--- a/tools/clientcmd/merged_client_builder.go
+++ b/tools/clientcmd/merged_client_builder.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 
-	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	restclient "k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	clientcmdapi "k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd/api"
 )
@@ -145,7 +144,7 @@ func (config *DeferredLoadingClientConfig) Namespace() (string, bool, error) {
 
 	if len(ns) > 0 {
 		// if we got a non-default namespace from the kubeconfig, use it
-		if ns != v1.NamespaceDefault {
+		if ns != "default" {
 			return ns, false, nil
 		}