diff --git a/nginx-controller/main.go b/nginx-controller/main.go
index 7bd86547b2..7abdbc1462 100644
--- a/nginx-controller/main.go
+++ b/nginx-controller/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/nginx-controller/controller"
 	"github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/nginx-controller/nginx"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	client "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned"
 )
 
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ var (
 		given url and creates a proxy client. Regenerated NGINX configuration files
     are not written to the disk, instead they are printed to stdout. Also NGINX
     is not getting invoked. This flag is for testing.`)
+
+	watchNamespace = flag.String("watch-namespace", api.NamespaceAll,
+		`Namespace to watch for Ingress/Services/Endpoints. By default the controller
+		watches acrosss all namespaces`)
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -41,7 +46,7 @@ func main() {
 	resolver := getKubeDNSIP(kubeClient)
 	ngxc, _ := nginx.NewNGINXController(resolver, "/etc/nginx/", local)
 	ngxc.Start()
-	lbc, _ := controller.NewLoadBalancerController(kubeClient, 30*time.Second, "default", ngxc)
+	lbc, _ := controller.NewLoadBalancerController(kubeClient, 30*time.Second, *watchNamespace, ngxc)
 	lbc.Run()
 }
 
diff --git a/nginx-plus-controller/main.go b/nginx-plus-controller/main.go
index 003f5347b8..1496170a0a 100644
--- a/nginx-plus-controller/main.go
+++ b/nginx-plus-controller/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/nginx-plus-controller/controller"
 	"github.com/nginxinc/kubernetes-ingress/nginx-plus-controller/nginx"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	client "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned"
 )
 
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ var (
 		given url and creates a proxy client. Regenerated NGINX configuration files
     are not written to the disk, instead they are printed to stdout. Also NGINX
     is not getting invoked. This flag is for testing.`)
+
+	watchNamespace = flag.String("watch-namespace", api.NamespaceAll,
+		`Namespace to watch for Ingress/Services/Endpoints. By default the controller
+		watches acrosss all namespaces`)
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -41,7 +46,7 @@ func main() {
 	resolver := getKubeDNSIP(kubeClient)
 	ngxc, _ := nginx.NewNGINXController(resolver, "/etc/nginx/", local)
 	ngxc.Start()
-	lbc, _ := controller.NewLoadBalancerController(kubeClient, 30*time.Second, "default", ngxc)
+	lbc, _ := controller.NewLoadBalancerController(kubeClient, 30*time.Second, *watchNamespace, ngxc)
 	lbc.Run()
 }