diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
index 617e943b572..b8ea9d2fb77 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
@@ -1805,6 +1805,9 @@ func printRoleBindingList(list *rbac.RoleBindingList, w io.Writer, options Print
 }
 
 func printClusterRole(clusterRole *rbac.ClusterRole, w io.Writer, options PrintOptions) error {
+	if options.WithNamespace {
+		return fmt.Errorf("clusterRole is not namespaced")
+	}
 	return printObjectMeta(clusterRole.ObjectMeta, w, options, false)
 }