diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/9870-shubham-pampattiwar b/changelogs/unreleased/9870-shubham-pampattiwar
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76e44931c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/9870-shubham-pampattiwar
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix backup performance regression when using includedNamespaces ["*"] by restoring cross-namespace API listing optimization
diff --git a/pkg/backup/backup_test.go b/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
index 072f3cd51..af15224da 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/backup_test.go
@@ -5407,6 +5407,8 @@ func TestBackupNamespaces(t *testing.T) {
 			want: []string{
 				"resources/namespaces/cluster/ns-1.json",
 				"resources/namespaces/v1-preferredversion/cluster/ns-1.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/cluster/ns-3.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/v1-preferredversion/cluster/ns-3.json",
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -5440,6 +5442,10 @@ func TestBackupNamespaces(t *testing.T) {
 			want: []string{
 				"resources/namespaces/cluster/ns-1.json",
 				"resources/namespaces/v1-preferredversion/cluster/ns-1.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/cluster/ns-2.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/v1-preferredversion/cluster/ns-2.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/cluster/ns-3.json",
+				"resources/namespaces/v1-preferredversion/cluster/ns-3.json",
 				"resources/deployments.apps/namespaces/ns-1/deploy-1.json",
 				"resources/deployments.apps/v1-preferredversion/namespaces/ns-1/deploy-1.json",
 			},
diff --git a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
index 34c42e2a2..7f5ed6a4f 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
@@ -633,15 +633,18 @@ func coreGroupResourcePriority(resource string) int {
 }
 
 // getNamespacesToList examines ie and resolves the includes and excludes to a full list of
-// namespaces to list. If ie is nil, the result is just "" (list across all namespaces).
-// Otherwise, the result is a list of every included namespace minus all excluded ones.
-// Because the namespace IE filter is expanded from 1.18, there is no need to consider
-// wildcard characters anymore.
+// namespaces to list. If ie is nil or it includes *, the result is just "" (list across all
+// namespaces). Otherwise, the result is a list of every included namespace minus all excluded ones.
 func getNamespacesToList(ie *collections.NamespaceIncludesExcludes) []string {
 	if ie == nil {
 		return []string{""}
 	}
 
+	if ie.ShouldInclude("*") {
+		// "" means all namespaces
+		return []string{""}
+	}
+
 	var list []string
 	for _, n := range ie.GetIncludes() {
 		if ie.ShouldInclude(n) {
diff --git a/pkg/util/collections/includes_excludes_test.go b/pkg/util/collections/includes_excludes_test.go
index 867397cbb..241fc9fea 100644
--- a/pkg/util/collections/includes_excludes_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/collections/includes_excludes_test.go
@@ -1063,13 +1063,13 @@ func TestExpandIncludesExcludes(t *testing.T) {
 			fromBackup:               true,
 		},
 		{
-			name:                     "asterisk alone - should expand",
+			name:                     "asterisk alone - should not expand",
 			includes:                 []string{"*"},
 			excludes:                 []string{},
 			activeNamespaces:         []string{"default", "kube-system", "test"},
-			expectedIncludes:         []string{"default", "kube-system", "test"},
+			expectedIncludes:         []string{"*"},
 			expectedExcludes:         []string{},
-			expectedWildcardExpanded: true,
+			expectedWildcardExpanded: false,
 			expectError:              false,
 			fromBackup:               true,
 		},
diff --git a/pkg/util/wildcard/expand.go b/pkg/util/wildcard/expand.go
index 2d35e5dd5..d34d8f805 100644
--- a/pkg/util/wildcard/expand.go
+++ b/pkg/util/wildcard/expand.go
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ func ShouldExpandWildcards(includes []string, excludes []string, fromBackup bool
 
 	wildcardFound := false
 	for _, include := range includes {
+		// "*" alone means "match all" - don't expand, so that
+		// getNamespacesToList can use a single cross-namespace API call
+		// instead of per-namespace calls.
+		if include == "*" {
+			return false
+		}
+
 		if containsWildcardPattern(include) {
 			wildcardFound = true
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/util/wildcard/expand_test.go b/pkg/util/wildcard/expand_test.go
index 9851106da..36053ff64 100644
--- a/pkg/util/wildcard/expand_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/wildcard/expand_test.go
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ func TestShouldExpandWildcards(t *testing.T) {
 			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:       "includes has star - should expand",
+			name:       "includes has star - should not expand",
 			includes:   []string{"*"},
 			excludes:   []string{"ns1"},
 			fromBackup: true,
-			expected:   true,
+			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
 			excludes:   []string{"ns3", "ns4"},
@@ -35,18 +35,18 @@ func TestShouldExpandWildcards(t *testing.T) {
 			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:       "includes has star - should expand",
+			name:       "includes has star with wildcard excludes - should not expand",
 			includes:   []string{"*"},
-			excludes:   []string{"ns1"},
+			excludes:   []string{"ns*"},
 			fromBackup: true,
-			expected:   true,
+			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:       "includes has star after a wildcard pattern - should expand",
+			name:       "includes has star after a wildcard pattern - should not expand",
 			includes:   []string{"ns*", "*"},
 			excludes:   []string{"ns1"},
 			fromBackup: true,
-			expected:   true,
+			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:       "includes has wildcard pattern",
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ func TestShouldExpandWildcards(t *testing.T) {
 			expected:   true,
 		},
 		{
-			name:       "includes has star and wildcard - should expand",
+			name:       "includes has star and wildcard - should not expand",
 			includes:   []string{"*", "ns*"},
 			excludes:   []string{},
 			fromBackup: true,
-			expected:   true,
+			expected:   false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:       "double asterisk should be detected as wildcard",