diff --git a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
index 459a3fb65..4b2f4ff75 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
@@ -66,8 +66,9 @@ type itemCollector struct {
 //	The namespaces, which do not have backup including resources,
 //	are not collected.
 //
-//	b. If the namespace I/E filters and the (Or)LabelSelectors selected
-//	namespaces are different. The tracker takes the union of them.
+//	b. Explicit namespace exclusion takes precedence over the
+//	(Or)LabelSelectors: an excluded namespace is never tracked, even
+//	when its own labels (or a resource within it) match the selector(s).
 type nsTracker struct {
 	singleLabelSelector labels.Selector
 	orLabelSelector     []labels.Selector
@@ -125,9 +126,15 @@ func (nt *nsTracker) init(
 			continue
 		}
 
+		// Explicit namespace exclusion takes precedence over the
+		// (Or)LabelSelectors, so check it upfront once instead of
+		// repeating it in every branch below.
+		if !nt.namespaceFilter.ShouldInclude(namespace.GetName()) {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		if nt.singleLabelSelector != nil &&
-			nt.singleLabelSelector.Matches(labels.Set(namespace.GetLabels())) &&
-			nt.namespaceFilter.ShouldInclude(namespace.GetName()) {
+			nt.singleLabelSelector.Matches(labels.Set(namespace.GetLabels())) {
 			nt.logger.Debugf("Track namespace %s, because its labels match backup LabelSelector.",
 				namespace.GetName(),
 			)
@@ -136,7 +143,7 @@ func (nt *nsTracker) init(
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if len(nt.orLabelSelector) > 0 && nt.namespaceFilter.ShouldInclude(namespace.GetName()) {
+		if len(nt.orLabelSelector) > 0 {
 			for _, selector := range nt.orLabelSelector {
 				if selector.Matches(labels.Set(namespace.GetLabels())) {
 					nt.logger.Debugf("Track namespace %s, because its labels match the backup OrLabelSelector.",
@@ -157,12 +164,10 @@ func (nt *nsTracker) init(
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if nt.namespaceFilter.ShouldInclude(namespace.GetName()) {
-			nt.logger.Debugf("Track namespace %s, because its name match the backup namespace filter.",
-				namespace.GetName(),
-			)
-			nt.track(namespace.GetName())
-		}
+		nt.logger.Debugf("Track namespace %s, because its name match the backup namespace filter.",
+			namespace.GetName(),
+		)
+		nt.track(namespace.GetName())
 	}
 }