diff --git a/cmd/fluent-manager/main.go b/cmd/fluent-manager/main.go
index 4d43ba231..b8ed7b97d 100644
--- a/cmd/fluent-manager/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fluent-manager/main.go
@@ -17,12 +17,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 package main
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
-	"errors"
-
 	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/cache"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/metrics/server"
@@ -105,6 +104,8 @@ func main() {
 		config := cache.Config{}
 		namespacedController = true
 		namespaces := strings.Split(watchNamespaces, ",")
+
+		ctrlOpts.Cache.DefaultNamespaces = make(map[string]cache.Config)
 		for _, namespace := range namespaces {
 			ctrlOpts.Cache.DefaultNamespaces[namespace] = config
 		}