diff --git a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
index 5cbc178361f..635e986dd9d 100644
--- a/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
+++ b/pkg/backup/item_collector.go
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ func (r *itemCollector) getResourceItems(log logrus.FieldLogger, gv schema.Group
 	namespacesToList := getNamespacesToList(r.backupRequest.NamespaceIncludesExcludes)
 
 	// Check if we're backing up namespaces, and only certain ones
-	if gr == kuberesource.Namespaces && namespacesToList[0] != "" {
+	if gr == kuberesource.Namespaces && (len(namespacesToList)== 0 || namespacesToList[0] != "") {
 		resourceClient, err := r.dynamicFactory.ClientForGroupVersionResource(gv, resource, "")
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithError(err).Error("Error getting dynamic client")