diff --git a/hack/lib/mesh.bash b/hack/lib/mesh.bash
index 7e68e12ef6..32f63b9953 100644
--- a/hack/lib/mesh.bash
+++ b/hack/lib/mesh.bash
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ function deploy_gateways {
       -in "${out_dir}"/wildcard.csr \
       -out "${out_dir}"/wildcard.crt
 
-  oc get ns knative-serving-ingress || oc create namespace knative-serving-ingress
+  oc apply -f "${resources_dir}"/namespace.yaml || return $?
 
   oc create -n knative-serving-ingress secret tls wildcard-certs \
       --key="${out_dir}"/wildcard.key \
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ function deploy_gateways {
       --key="${out_dir}"/wildcard.key \
       --cert="${out_dir}"/wildcard.crt --dry-run=client -o yaml | oc apply -f -
 
-  oc apply -f "${resources_dir}"/namespace.yaml || return $?
   oc apply -f "${resources_dir}"/gateway-deploy.yaml || return $?
   oc apply -f "${resources_dir}"/gateway.yaml || return $?
   oc apply -f "${resources_dir}"/authorization-policies/setup || return $?
diff --git a/hack/lib/mesh_resources/namespace.yaml b/hack/lib/mesh_resources/namespace.yaml
index b4fbcae53c..9fb539e198 100644
--- a/hack/lib/mesh_resources/namespace.yaml
+++ b/hack/lib/mesh_resources/namespace.yaml
@@ -2,59 +2,90 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: knative-serving
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: knative-serving-ingress
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: knative-eventing
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: serving-tests
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: serving-tests-alt
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: serverless-tests
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 # Additional namespaces for upgrade tests
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: eventing-e2e0
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: eventing-e2e1
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: eventing-e2e2
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: eventing-e2e3
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: eventing-e2e4
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: tenant-1
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: tenant-2
+  labels:
+    istio.io/rev: knative-istio