diff --git a/chart/apl/templates/00-namespace.yaml b/chart/apl/templates/00-namespace.yaml
index cd7b86836a..f5d8fdbf4f 100644
--- a/chart/apl/templates/00-namespace.yaml
+++ b/chart/apl/templates/00-namespace.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+{{- if .Values.installation.createNamespaces }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
@@ -21,3 +22,4 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     kubernetes.io/metadata.name: apl-secrets
     name: apl-secrets
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/chart/apl/values.yaml b/chart/apl/values.yaml
index 25932348b6..b831d6b132 100644
--- a/chart/apl/values.yaml
+++ b/chart/apl/values.yaml
@@ -136,3 +136,7 @@ installation:
   mode: standard
   # Skip deployment of the operator
   skipOperatorDeployment: false
+  ## Create namespaces (apl-operator, otomi, apl-secrets). Disable if creating them yourself.
+  ## Label them `kubernetes.io/metadata.name: <name>` and `name: <name>` — NetworkPolicies match on `name`.
+  ## Set this at install time; flipping it to false later makes helm delete the namespaces.
+  createNamespaces: true