if o.Namespace == "" {
		o.Namespace = ctx.IstioNamespace()

		configAccess := clientcmd.NewDefaultPathOptions()
		configAccess.GlobalFile = o.Kubeconfig
		if config, err := configAccess.GetStartingConfig(); err == nil {
			if context, ok := config.Contexts[config.CurrentContext]; ok && context.Namespace != "" {
				o.Namespace = context.Namespace
			}
		}
	}

		// use specified kubeconfig file for the location of the
		// config to read
		configAccess.GlobalFile = kubeconfig
	}

	// gets existing kubeconfig or returns new empty config
	config, err := configAccess.GetStartingConfig()
	if err != nil {
		r.defaultNamespace = v1.NamespaceDefault
		return
	}

	// If a specific context was specified, use that. Otherwise, just use the current context from the kube config.