diff --git a/cmd/machine-healthcheck/main.go b/cmd/machine-healthcheck/main.go
index c4f1bfa5f1..d78c055bdf 100644
--- a/cmd/machine-healthcheck/main.go
+++ b/cmd/machine-healthcheck/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"runtime"
 
+	"k8s.io/klog"
+
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	mapiv1 "github.com/openshift/cluster-api/pkg/apis/machine/v1beta1"
 	"github.com/openshift/machine-api-operator/pkg/apis/healthchecking/v1alpha1"
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@ func printVersion() {
 }
 
 func main() {
+	watchNamespace := flag.String("namespace", "", "Namespace that the controller watches to reconcile machine-api objects. If unspecified, the controller watches for machine-api objects across all namespaces.")
 	flag.Parse()
 	printVersion()
 
@@ -31,8 +34,13 @@ func main() {
 		glog.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
+	opts := manager.Options{}
+	if *watchNamespace != "" {
+		opts.Namespace = *watchNamespace
+		klog.Infof("Watching machine-api objects only in namespace %q for reconciliation.", opts.Namespace)
+	}
 	// Create a new Cmd to provide shared dependencies and start components
-	mgr, err := manager.New(cfg, manager.Options{})
+	mgr, err := manager.New(cfg, opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/nodelink-controller/main.go b/cmd/nodelink-controller/main.go
index 8802ed1d8b..c2b66e272c 100644
--- a/cmd/nodelink-controller/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nodelink-controller/main.go
@@ -434,6 +434,7 @@ var (
 func main() {
 
 	pflag.CommandLine.AddGoFlagSet(flag.CommandLine)
+	watchNamespace := pflag.String("namespace", "", "Namespace that the controller watches to reconcile machine-api objects. If unspecified, the controller watches for machine-api objects across all namespaces.")
 	pflag.Parse()
 
 	config, err := config.GetConfig()
@@ -453,7 +454,19 @@ func main() {
 
 	// TODO(jchaloup): set the resync period reasonably
 	kubeSharedInformers := kubeinformers.NewSharedInformerFactory(kubeClient, 5*time.Second)
-	mapiInformers := mapiinformersfactory.NewSharedInformerFactory(client, 5*time.Second)
+
+	var mapiInformers mapiinformersfactory.SharedInformerFactory
+	if *watchNamespace != "" {
+		glog.Infof("Watching machine-api objects only in namespace %q for reconciliation.", *watchNamespace)
+		mapiInformers = mapiinformersfactory.NewSharedInformerFactoryWithOptions(
+			client,
+			5*time.Second,
+			mapiinformersfactory.WithNamespace(*watchNamespace))
+	} else {
+		mapiInformers = mapiinformersfactory.NewSharedInformerFactory(
+			client,
+			5*time.Second)
+	}
 
 	ctrl := NewController(
 		kubeSharedInformers.Core().V1().Nodes(),