diff --git a/docs/reference/deploy/master-config-reference.rst b/docs/reference/deploy/master-config-reference.rst
index 8f31fe679e9..b7184d1805c 100644
--- a/docs/reference/deploy/master-config-reference.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/deploy/master-config-reference.rst
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ on using Determined with Kubernetes, see the :ref:`documentation <determined-on-
 ``namespace``
 -------------
 
-This field has been deprecated, use ``default_namespace`` instead.
+This field is no longer supported, use ``default_namespace`` instead.
 
 ``default_namespace``
 ---------------------
diff --git a/docs/setup-cluster/k8s/resource-caps.rst b/docs/setup-cluster/k8s/resource-caps.rst
index 21385ebd64f..cff588b8b4a 100644
--- a/docs/setup-cluster/k8s/resource-caps.rst
+++ b/docs/setup-cluster/k8s/resource-caps.rst
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ bindings and resource quotas using either the WebUI or the CLI.
    specify a namespace in the namespace field, the workspace is bound to that namespace. If the
    field is left blank, the workspace is bound to the namespace specified in the
    ``resource_manager.default_namespace`` section of your master configuration (when set), and is
-   otherwise bound to the default Kubernetes "default" namespace.
+   otherwise bound to the release namespace. For non-helm Determined deployments, it falls back to
+   the default Kubernetes namespace, ``default``.
 
 #. Toggle the "Auto Create Namespace" option on or off. When enabled, the system automatically
    creates a namespace in the cluster, allowing you to edit the resource quota directly in
diff --git a/helm/charts/determined/templates/master-config.yaml b/helm/charts/determined/templates/master-config.yaml
index f11025c18dc..5caff2b40e1 100644
--- a/helm/charts/determined/templates/master-config.yaml
+++ b/helm/charts/determined/templates/master-config.yaml
@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@ stringData:
 
     resource_manager:
       type: "kubernetes"
-      {{- if .Values.resourceManager.defaultNamespace }}
-      default_namespace: {{ .Values.resourceManager.defaultNamespace }}
+      {{- if $defaultNamespace := coalesce .Values.resourceManager.defaultNamespace .Release.Namespace }}
+      default_namespace: {{ quote $defaultNamespace }}
       {{- end }}
       {{- if .Values.resourceManager.clusterName }}
       cluster_name: {{ .Values.resourceManager.clusterName }}
diff --git a/helm/charts/determined/values.yaml b/helm/charts/determined/values.yaml
index 369ec220b92..4bcde63df87 100644
--- a/helm/charts/determined/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/charts/determined/values.yaml
@@ -381,6 +381,6 @@ resourcePools:
   # schedule: "24h"
 
 resourceManager:
-  # Specifies the namespace where all workloads for that RM will be sent by default.
+  # Specifies the namespace in a given Kubernetes compute cluster where all workload pods will be sent by default.
   defaultNamespace:
   clusterName:
diff --git a/master/internal/config/resource_manager_config.go b/master/internal/config/resource_manager_config.go
index ae9cc1827f3..4c5444ddc4b 100644
--- a/master/internal/config/resource_manager_config.go
+++ b/master/internal/config/resource_manager_config.go
@@ -171,8 +171,6 @@ func (a AgentResourceManagerConfig) Validate() []error {
 
 // KubernetesResourceManagerConfig hosts configuration fields for the kubernetes resource manager.
 type KubernetesResourceManagerConfig struct {
-	// deprecated, no longer in use.
-	Namespace string `json:"namespace"`
 	// Changed from "Namespace" to "DefaultNamespace". DefaultNamespace is an optional field that
 	// allows the user to specify the default namespace to bind a workspace to, for each RM.
 	DefaultNamespace string `json:"default_namespace"`
@@ -316,19 +314,10 @@ func (k KubernetesResourceManagerConfig) Validate() []error {
 			k.SlotResourceRequests.CPU, float32(0), "slot_resource_requests.cpu must be > 0")
 	}
 
-	var checkRMNamespace error
-	if len(k.DefaultNamespace) > 0 && len(k.Namespace) > 0 {
-		checkRMNamespace = errors.Errorf("Both ``namespace`` and ``default_namespace`` provided. " +
-			"Please provide only ``default_namespace`` as ``namespace`` has been deprecated.")
-	} else {
-		checkRMNamespace = nil
-	}
-
 	return []error{
 		checkSlotType,
 		checkCPUResource,
 		check.NotEmpty(k.ClusterName, "cluster_name is required"),
-		checkRMNamespace,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/master/internal/rm/kubernetesrm/kubernetes_resource_manager.go b/master/internal/rm/kubernetesrm/kubernetes_resource_manager.go
index 51cfe2662f3..c89c9546a3d 100644
--- a/master/internal/rm/kubernetesrm/kubernetes_resource_manager.go
+++ b/master/internal/rm/kubernetesrm/kubernetes_resource_manager.go
@@ -86,10 +86,6 @@ func New(
 		db: db,
 	}
 
-	if len(k.config.Namespace) > 0 {
-		k.config.DefaultNamespace = k.config.Namespace
-	}
-
 	k.jobsService, err = newJobsService(
 		k.config.DefaultNamespace,
 		k.config.ClusterName,