diff --git a/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go b/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
index 5282663cb33..f4f99f08bff 100644
--- a/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
+++ b/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
@@ -170,33 +170,24 @@ properties:
 // Aware of the kubectl example files map.
 func cleanupKubectlInputs(fileContents string, ns string, selectors ...string) {
 	ginkgo.By("using delete to clean up resources")
-	var nsArg string
-	if ns != "" {
-		nsArg = fmt.Sprintf("--namespace=%s", ns)
-	}
 	// support backward compatibility : file paths or raw json - since we are removing file path
 	// dependencies from this test.
-	framework.RunKubectlOrDieInput(ns, fileContents, "delete", "--grace-period=0", "--force", "-f", "-", nsArg)
+	framework.RunKubectlOrDieInput(ns, fileContents, "delete", "--grace-period=0", "--force", "-f", "-")
 	assertCleanup(ns, selectors...)
 }
 
 // assertCleanup asserts that cleanup of a namespace wrt selectors occurred.
 func assertCleanup(ns string, selectors ...string) {
-	var nsArg string
-	if ns != "" {
-		nsArg = fmt.Sprintf("--namespace=%s", ns)
-	}
-
 	var e error
 	verifyCleanupFunc := func() (bool, error) {
 		e = nil
 		for _, selector := range selectors {
-			resources := framework.RunKubectlOrDie(ns, "get", "rc,svc", "-l", selector, "--no-headers", nsArg)
+			resources := framework.RunKubectlOrDie(ns, "get", "rc,svc", "-l", selector, "--no-headers")
 			if resources != "" {
 				e = fmt.Errorf("Resources left running after stop:\n%s", resources)
 				return false, nil
 			}
-			pods := framework.RunKubectlOrDie(ns, "get", "pods", "-l", selector, nsArg, "-o", "go-template={{ range .items }}{{ if not .metadata.deletionTimestamp }}{{ .metadata.name }}{{ \"\\n\" }}{{ end }}{{ end }}")
+			pods := framework.RunKubectlOrDie(ns, "get", "pods", "-l", selector, "-o", "go-template={{ range .items }}{{ if not .metadata.deletionTimestamp }}{{ .metadata.name }}{{ \"\\n\" }}{{ end }}{{ end }}")
 			if pods != "" {
 				e = fmt.Errorf("Pods left unterminated after stop:\n%s", pods)
 				return false, nil