diff --git a/cmd/helm/helm.go b/cmd/helm/helm.go
index 509ab3241..c309edf71 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/helm.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/helm.go
@@ -22,11 +22,9 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
-	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
-	"k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions"
 	"k8s.io/klog"
 
 	// Import to initialize client auth plugins.
@@ -35,18 +33,13 @@ import (
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/action"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/cli"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/gates"
-	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/kube"
-	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/storage"
-	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/storage/driver"
 )
 
 // FeatureGateOCI is the feature gate for checking if `helm chart` and `helm registry` commands should work
 const FeatureGateOCI = gates.Gate("HELM_EXPERIMENTAL_OCI")
 
 var (
-	settings   = cli.New()
-	config     genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter
-	configOnce sync.Once
+	settings = cli.New()
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -71,13 +64,9 @@ func initKubeLogs() {
 func main() {
 	initKubeLogs()
 
-	actionConfig := new(action.Configuration)
-	cmd := newRootCmd(actionConfig, os.Stdout, os.Args[1:])
-
-	// Initialize the rest of the actionConfig
-	initActionConfig(actionConfig, false)
+	actionConfig, err := action.InitActionConfig(settings, false, os.Getenv("HELM_DRIVER"), debug)
 
-	if err := cmd.Execute(); err != nil {
+	if err != nil {
 		debug("%+v", err)
 		switch e := err.(type) {
 		case pluginError:
@@ -86,62 +75,13 @@ func main() {
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 	}
-}
-
-func initActionConfig(actionConfig *action.Configuration, allNamespaces bool) {
-	kc := kube.New(kubeConfig())
-	kc.Log = debug
-
-	clientset, err := kc.Factory.KubernetesClientSet()
-	if err != nil {
-		// TODO return error
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	var namespace string
-	if !allNamespaces {
-		namespace = getNamespace()
-	}
 
-	var store *storage.Storage
-	switch os.Getenv("HELM_DRIVER") {
-	case "secret", "secrets", "":
-		d := driver.NewSecrets(clientset.CoreV1().Secrets(namespace))
-		d.Log = debug
-		store = storage.Init(d)
-	case "configmap", "configmaps":
-		d := driver.NewConfigMaps(clientset.CoreV1().ConfigMaps(namespace))
-		d.Log = debug
-		store = storage.Init(d)
-	case "memory":
-		d := driver.NewMemory()
-		store = storage.Init(d)
-	default:
-		// Not sure what to do here.
-		panic("Unknown driver in HELM_DRIVER: " + os.Getenv("HELM_DRIVER"))
-	}
-
-	actionConfig.RESTClientGetter = kubeConfig()
-	actionConfig.KubeClient = kc
-	actionConfig.Releases = store
-	actionConfig.Log = debug
-}
-
-func kubeConfig() genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter {
-	configOnce.Do(func() {
-		config = kube.GetConfig(settings.KubeConfig, settings.KubeContext, settings.Namespace)
-	})
-	return config
-}
-
-func getNamespace() string {
-	if settings.Namespace != "" {
-		return settings.Namespace
-	}
+	cmd := newRootCmd(actionConfig, os.Stdout, os.Args[1:])
 
-	if ns, _, err := kubeConfig().ToRawKubeConfigLoader().Namespace(); err == nil {
-		return ns
+	if err := cmd.Execute(); err != nil {
+		debug("%+v", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	return "default"
 }
 
 // wordSepNormalizeFunc changes all flags that contain "_" separators
diff --git a/cmd/helm/install.go b/cmd/helm/install.go
index 2540558a5..c0aaad653 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/install.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/install.go
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ func runInstall(args []string, client *action.Install, valueOpts *values.Options
 		}
 	}
 
-	client.Namespace = getNamespace()
+	client.Namespace = action.GetNamespace()
 	return client.Run(chartRequested, vals)
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/helm/lint.go b/cmd/helm/lint.go
index 13395c6d6..11dc2dc3f 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/lint.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/lint.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func newLintCmd(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 			if len(args) > 0 {
 				paths = args
 			}
-			client.Namespace = getNamespace()
+			client.Namespace = action.GetNamespace()
 			vals, err := valueOpts.MergeValues(getter.All(settings))
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
diff --git a/cmd/helm/list.go b/cmd/helm/list.go
index 8c89425f5..50f9a7441 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/list.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/list.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/gosuri/uitable"
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ func newListCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		Args:    require.NoArgs,
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			if client.AllNamespaces {
-				initActionConfig(cfg, true)
+				action.InitActionConfig(settings, true, os.Getenv("HELM_DRIVER"), debug)
 			}
 			client.SetStateMask()
 
diff --git a/cmd/helm/upgrade.go b/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
index 33631504f..3dfc128e8 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/upgrade.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func newUpgradeCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		Long:  upgradeDesc,
 		Args:  require.ExactArgs(2),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			client.Namespace = getNamespace()
+			client.Namespace = action.GetNamespace()
 
 			if client.Version == "" && client.Devel {
 				debug("setting version to >0.0.0-0")
diff --git a/pkg/action/action.go b/pkg/action/action.go
index f784b3651..063f4cde7 100644
--- a/pkg/action/action.go
+++ b/pkg/action/action.go
@@ -19,19 +19,23 @@ package action
 import (
 	"path"
 	"regexp"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+	"k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/discovery"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/internal/experimental/registry"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/chartutil"
+	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/cli"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/kube"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/release"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/storage"
+	"helm.sh/helm/pkg/storage/driver"
 )
 
 // Timestamper is a function capable of producing a timestamp.Timestamper.
@@ -49,6 +53,10 @@ var (
 	errInvalidRevision = errors.New("invalid release revision")
 	// errInvalidName indicates that an invalid release name was provided
 	errInvalidName = errors.New("invalid release name, must match regex ^(([A-Za-z0-9][-A-Za-z0-9_.]*)?[A-Za-z0-9])+$ and the length must not longer than 53")
+
+	config     genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter
+	configOnce sync.Once
+	settings   *cli.EnvSettings
 )
 
 // ValidName is a regular expression for names.
@@ -82,6 +90,15 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	Log func(string, ...interface{})
 }
 
+// RESTClientGetter gets the rest client
+type RESTClientGetter interface {
+	ToRESTConfig() (*rest.Config, error)
+	ToDiscoveryClient() (discovery.CachedDiscoveryInterface, error)
+	ToRESTMapper() (meta.RESTMapper, error)
+}
+
+type debug func(format string, v ...interface{})
+
 // capabilities builds a Capabilities from discovery information.
 func (c *Configuration) getCapabilities() (*chartutil.Capabilities, error) {
 	if c.Capabilities != nil {
@@ -197,8 +214,66 @@ func (c *Configuration) recordRelease(r *release.Release) {
 	}
 }
 
-type RESTClientGetter interface {
-	ToRESTConfig() (*rest.Config, error)
-	ToDiscoveryClient() (discovery.CachedDiscoveryInterface, error)
-	ToRESTMapper() (meta.RESTMapper, error)
+// InitActionConfig initializes the action configuration
+func InitActionConfig(envsettings *cli.EnvSettings, allNamespaces bool, helmDriver string, log debug) (*Configuration, error) {
+	settings = envsettings
+
+	var actionConfig Configuration
+	kubeconfig := kubeConfig()
+
+	kc := kube.New(kubeconfig)
+	kc.Log = log
+
+	clientset, err := kc.Factory.KubernetesClientSet()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var namespace string
+	if !allNamespaces {
+		namespace = GetNamespace()
+	}
+
+	var store *storage.Storage
+	switch helmDriver {
+	case "secret", "secrets", "":
+		d := driver.NewSecrets(clientset.CoreV1().Secrets(namespace))
+		d.Log = log
+		store = storage.Init(d)
+	case "configmap", "configmaps":
+		d := driver.NewConfigMaps(clientset.CoreV1().ConfigMaps(namespace))
+		d.Log = log
+		store = storage.Init(d)
+	case "memory":
+		d := driver.NewMemory()
+		store = storage.Init(d)
+	default:
+		// Not sure what to do here.
+		panic("Unknown driver in HELM_DRIVER: " + helmDriver)
+	}
+
+	actionConfig.RESTClientGetter = kubeconfig
+	actionConfig.KubeClient = kc
+	actionConfig.Releases = store
+	actionConfig.Log = log
+
+	return &actionConfig, nil
+}
+
+func kubeConfig() genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter {
+	configOnce.Do(func() {
+		config = kube.GetConfig(settings.KubeConfig, settings.KubeContext, settings.Namespace)
+	})
+	return config
+}
+
+//GetNamespace gets the namespace from the configuration
+func GetNamespace() string {
+	if envSettings.Namespace != "" {
+		return envSettings.Namespace
+	}
+
+	if ns, _, err := kubeConfig(envSettings).ToRawKubeConfigLoader().Namespace(); err == nil {
+		return ns
+	}
+	return "default"
 }