diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
index d3696c3d6ad..ca0fc828aa4 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ cpu-percent
 default-container-cpu-limit
 default-container-mem-limit
 delay-shutdown
+delete-namespace
 deleting-pods-burst
 deleting-pods-qps
 deployment-label-key
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
index f92b0f49181..40acec4bf8b 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ func init() {
 	flag.StringVar(&testContext.UpgradeTarget, "upgrade-target", "ci/latest", "Version to upgrade to (e.g. 'release/stable', 'release/latest', 'ci/latest', '0.19.1', '0.19.1-669-gabac8c8') if doing an upgrade test.")
 	flag.StringVar(&testContext.PrometheusPushGateway, "prom-push-gateway", "", "The URL to prometheus gateway, so that metrics can be pushed during e2es and scraped by prometheus. Typically something like 127.0.0.1:9091.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&testContext.VerifyServiceAccount, "e2e-verify-service-account", true, "If true tests will verify the service account before running.")
+	flag.BoolVar(&testContext.DeleteNamespace, "delete-namespace", true, "If true tests will delete namespace after completion. It is only designed to make debugging easier, DO NOT turn it off by default.")
 }
 
 func TestE2E(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/test/e2e/framework.go b/test/e2e/framework.go
index 1ae57ff14eb..7f6a598e39d 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework.go
@@ -100,14 +100,18 @@ func (f *Framework) afterEach() {
 		Failf("All nodes should be ready after test, %v", err)
 	}
 
-	By(fmt.Sprintf("Destroying namespace %q for this suite.", f.Namespace.Name))
+	if testContext.DeleteNamespace {
+		By(fmt.Sprintf("Destroying namespace %q for this suite.", f.Namespace.Name))
 
-	timeout := 5 * time.Minute
-	if f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout != 0 {
-		timeout = f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout
-	}
-	if err := deleteNS(f.Client, f.Namespace.Name, timeout); err != nil {
-		Failf("Couldn't delete ns %q: %s", f.Namespace.Name, err)
+		timeout := 5 * time.Minute
+		if f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout != 0 {
+			timeout = f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout
+		}
+		if err := deleteNS(f.Client, f.Namespace.Name, timeout); err != nil {
+			Failf("Couldn't delete ns %q: %s", f.Namespace.Name, err)
+		}
+	} else {
+		Logf("Found DeleteNamespace=false, skipping namespace deletion!")
 	}
 	// Paranoia-- prevent reuse!
 	f.Namespace = nil
diff --git a/test/e2e/util.go b/test/e2e/util.go
index 9ee36c4900e..0ef3f57cbd1 100644
--- a/test/e2e/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/util.go
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ type TestContextType struct {
 	UpgradeTarget         string
 	PrometheusPushGateway string
 	VerifyServiceAccount  bool
+	DeleteNamespace       bool
 }
 
 var testContext TestContextType