diff --git a/deploy/crdb.sh b/deploy/crdb.sh
index 216339117d2156d0ae1beddb5a1d6a7ccbe33219..414de523d10f7d1edb99799e1f5889b340d8ad04 100755
--- a/deploy/crdb.sh
+++ b/deploy/crdb.sh
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@ function crdb_drop_database_single() {
 }
 
 function crdb_deploy_cluster() {
+    echo "CockroachDB Operator Namespace"
+    echo ">>> Create CockroachDB Operator Namespace (if missing)"
+    kubectl apply -f "${CRDB_MANIFESTS_PATH}/pre_operator.yaml"
+    echo
+
     echo "Cockroach Operator CRDs"
     echo ">>> Apply Cockroach Operator CRDs (if they are missing)"
     cp "${CRDB_MANIFESTS_PATH}/crds.yaml" "${TMP_MANIFESTS_FOLDER}/crdb_crds.yaml"
diff --git a/manifests/cockroachdb/pre_operator.yaml b/manifests/cockroachdb/pre_operator.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..16718a77918491170502a5cbb864a6fda39c734a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/cockroachdb/pre_operator.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright 2022 The Cockroach Authors
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    control-plane: cockroach-operator
+  name: cockroach-operator-system