diff --git a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
index 182c10853..a9b9ab658 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ func (s *server) runControllers(config *api.Config) error {
 		s.backupService,
 		config.BackupStorageProvider.Bucket,
 		config.BackupSyncPeriod.Duration,
+		s.namespace,
 		s.logger,
 	)
 	wg.Add(1)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
index a36403137..638d93e21 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ type backupSyncController struct {
 	backupService cloudprovider.BackupService
 	bucket        string
 	syncPeriod    time.Duration
+	namespace     string
 	logger        logrus.FieldLogger
 }
 
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ func NewBackupSyncController(
 	backupService cloudprovider.BackupService,
 	bucket string,
 	syncPeriod time.Duration,
+	namespace string,
 	logger logrus.FieldLogger,
 ) Interface {
 	if syncPeriod < time.Minute {
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ func NewBackupSyncController(
 		backupService: backupService,
 		bucket:        bucket,
 		syncPeriod:    syncPeriod,
+		namespace:     namespace,
 		logger:        logger,
 	}
 }
@@ -88,6 +91,7 @@ func (c *backupSyncController) run() {
 		// faster than the sync finishes. Just process them as we find them.
 		cloudBackup.Finalizers = stringslice.Except(cloudBackup.Finalizers, gcFinalizer)
 
+		cloudBackup.Namespace = c.namespace
 		cloudBackup.ResourceVersion = ""
 		if _, err := c.client.Backups(cloudBackup.Namespace).Create(cloudBackup); err != nil && !kuberrs.IsAlreadyExists(err) {
 			logContext.WithError(errors.WithStack(err)).Error("Error syncing backup from object storage")
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
index f1b5dc6be..7738585ec 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_sync_controller_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 		name               string
 		getAllBackupsError error
 		cloudBackups       []*v1.Backup
+		namespace          string
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "no cloud backups",
@@ -49,20 +50,31 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
 				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithName("backup-1").Backup,
 				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithName("backup-2").Backup,
-				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-2").WithName("backup-3").Backup,
+				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithName("backup-3").Backup,
 			},
+			namespace: "ns-1",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "Finalizer gets removed on sync",
 			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
 				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithFinalizers(gcFinalizer).Backup,
 			},
+			namespace: "ns-1",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "Only target finalizer is removed",
 			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
 				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithFinalizers(gcFinalizer, "blah").Backup,
 			},
+			namespace: "ns-1",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "backups get created in Ark server's namespace",
+			cloudBackups: []*v1.Backup{
+				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-1").WithName("backup-1").Backup,
+				arktest.NewTestBackup().WithNamespace("ns-2").WithName("backup-2").Backup,
+			},
+			namespace: "heptio-ark",
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -79,6 +91,7 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 				bs,
 				"bucket",
 				time.Duration(0),
+				test.namespace,
 				logger,
 			).(*backupSyncController)
 
@@ -92,9 +105,10 @@ func TestBackupSyncControllerRun(t *testing.T) {
 			for _, cloudBackup := range test.cloudBackups {
 				// Verify that the run function stripped the GC finalizer
 				assert.False(t, stringslice.Has(cloudBackup.Finalizers, gcFinalizer))
+				assert.Equal(t, test.namespace, cloudBackup.Namespace)
 				action := core.NewCreateAction(
 					v1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithResource("backups"),
-					cloudBackup.Namespace,
+					test.namespace,
 					cloudBackup,
 				)