diff --git a/pkg/backup/backup_test.go b/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
index 06fdfbe85..0eef90cc9 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func TestGetNamespaceIncludesExcludes(t *testing.T) {
 var (
 	v1Group = &metav1.APIResourceList{
 		GroupVersion: "v1",
-		APIResources: []metav1.APIResource{configMapsResource, podsResource},
+		APIResources: []metav1.APIResource{configMapsResource, podsResource, namespacesResource},
 	}
 
 	configMapsResource = metav1.APIResource{
@@ -266,6 +266,14 @@ var (
 		Verbs:        metav1.Verbs([]string{"create", "update", "get", "list", "watch", "delete"}),
 	}
 
+	namespacesResource = metav1.APIResource{
+		Name:         "namespaces",
+		SingularName: "namespace",
+		Namespaced:   false,
+		Kind:         "Namespace",
+		Verbs:        metav1.Verbs([]string{"create", "update", "get", "list", "watch", "delete"}),
+	}
+
 	certificatesGroup = &metav1.APIResourceList{
 		GroupVersion: "certificates.k8s.io/v1beta1",
 		APIResources: []metav1.APIResource{certificateSigningRequestsResource},
diff --git a/pkg/backup/resource_backupper.go b/pkg/backup/resource_backupper.go
index 28d8b293d..b3e06f641 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/resource_backupper.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/resource_backupper.go
@@ -129,7 +129,9 @@ func (rb *defaultResourceBackupper) backupResource(
 		// (all namespaces) backup. Note that in the case of a subset of
 		// namespaces being backed up, some related cluster-scoped resources
 		// may still be backed up if triggered by a custom action (e.g. PVC->PV).
-		if !resource.Namespaced && !rb.namespaces.IncludeEverything() {
+		// If we're processing namespaces themselves, we will not skip here, they may be
+		// filtered out later.
+		if !resource.Namespaced && resource.Kind != "Namespace" && !rb.namespaces.IncludeEverything() {
 			log.Info("Skipping resource because it's cluster-scoped and only specific namespaces are included in the backup")
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -173,6 +175,8 @@ func (rb *defaultResourceBackupper) backupResource(
 		rb.discoveryHelper,
 	)
 
+	// TODO: when processing namespaces, and only including certain namespaces, we still list
+	// them all here. Could optimize to get specifics, but watch out for label selector.
 	var namespacesToList []string
 	if resource.Namespaced {
 		namespacesToList = getNamespacesToList(rb.namespaces)
diff --git a/pkg/backup/resource_backupper_test.go b/pkg/backup/resource_backupper_test.go
index 78b7828df..980d83a0d 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/resource_backupper_test.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/resource_backupper_test.go
@@ -195,6 +195,24 @@ func TestBackupResource(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:                     "should include specified namespaces if backing up subset of namespaces and --include-cluster-resources=nil",
+			namespaces:               collections.NewIncludesExcludes().Includes("ns-1"),
+			resources:                collections.NewIncludesExcludes(),
+			includeClusterResources:  nil,
+			expectedListedNamespaces: []string{"ns-1"},
+			apiGroup:                 v1Group,
+			apiResource:              namespacesResource,
+			groupVersion:             schema.GroupVersion{Group: "", Version: "v1"},
+			groupResource:            schema.GroupResource{Group: "", Resource: "namespaces"},
+			expectSkip:               false,
+			listResponses: [][]*unstructured.Unstructured{
+				{
+					unstructuredOrDie(`{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"name":"ns-1"}}`),
+					unstructuredOrDie(`{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"name":"ns-2"}}`),
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
@@ -275,7 +293,11 @@ func TestBackupResource(t *testing.T) {
 					client := &arktest.FakeDynamicClient{}
 					defer client.AssertExpectations(t)
 
-					dynamicFactory.On("ClientForGroupVersionResource", test.groupVersion, test.apiResource, namespace).Return(client, nil)
+					if test.groupResource.Resource == "namespaces" {
+						dynamicFactory.On("ClientForGroupVersionResource", test.groupVersion, test.apiResource, "").Return(client, nil)
+					} else {
+						dynamicFactory.On("ClientForGroupVersionResource", test.groupVersion, test.apiResource, namespace).Return(client, nil)
+					}
 
 					list := &unstructured.UnstructuredList{
 						Items: []unstructured.Unstructured{},