diff --git a/cmd/helm/lint.go b/cmd/helm/lint.go
index 11d2ff4ab..3862d2d76 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/lint.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/lint.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ or recommendation, it will emit [WARNING] messages.
 `
 
 type lintCmd struct {
+	namespace  string
 	strict bool
 	paths  []string
 	out    io.Writer
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ func newLintCmd(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&l.namespace, "namespace", "default", "namespace to install the release into (only used if --install is set)")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&l.strict, "strict", false, "fail on lint warnings")
 
 	return cmd
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ func (l *lintCmd) run() error {
 	var total int
 	var failures int
 	for _, path := range l.paths {
-		if linter, err := lintChart(path); err != nil {
+		if linter, err := lintChart(path, l.namespace); err != nil {
 			fmt.Println("==> Skipping", path)
 			fmt.Println(err)
 		} else {
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ func (l *lintCmd) run() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func lintChart(path string) (support.Linter, error) {
+func lintChart(path string, namespace string) (support.Linter, error) {
 	var chartPath string
 	linter := support.Linter{}
 
@@ -146,5 +148,5 @@ func lintChart(path string) (support.Linter, error) {
 		return linter, errLintNoChart
 	}
 
-	return lint.All(chartPath), nil
+	return lint.All(chartPath, namespace), nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/helm/lint_test.go b/cmd/helm/lint_test.go
index 9f71c0231..acf408eaa 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/lint_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/lint_test.go
@@ -21,16 +21,17 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
+	namespace         = "testNamespace"
 	archivedChartPath = "testdata/testcharts/compressedchart-0.1.0.tgz"
 	chartDirPath      = "testdata/testcharts/decompressedchart/"
 )
 
 func TestLintChart(t *testing.T) {
-	if _, err := lintChart(chartDirPath); err != nil {
+	if _, err := lintChart(chartDirPath, namespace); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("%s", err)
 	}
 
-	if _, err := lintChart(archivedChartPath); err != nil {
+	if _, err := lintChart(archivedChartPath, namespace); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("%s", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/lint/lint.go b/pkg/lint/lint.go
index 7903d215c..3debfd926 100644
--- a/pkg/lint/lint.go
+++ b/pkg/lint/lint.go
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 // All runs all of the available linters on the given base directory.
-func All(basedir string) support.Linter {
+func All(basedir string, namespace string) support.Linter {
 	// Using abs path to get directory context
 	chartDir, _ := filepath.Abs(basedir)
 
 	linter := support.Linter{ChartDir: chartDir}
 	rules.Chartfile(&linter)
 	rules.Values(&linter)
-	rules.Templates(&linter)
+	rules.Templates(&linter, namespace)
 	return linter
 }
diff --git a/pkg/lint/lint_test.go b/pkg/lint/lint_test.go
index 02040f079..da3edc8db 100644
--- a/pkg/lint/lint_test.go
+++ b/pkg/lint/lint_test.go
@@ -24,13 +24,15 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
+const namespace = "testNamespace"
+
 const badChartDir = "rules/testdata/badchartfile"
 const badValuesFileDir = "rules/testdata/badvaluesfile"
 const badYamlFileDir = "rules/testdata/albatross"
 const goodChartDir = "rules/testdata/goodone"
 
 func TestBadChart(t *testing.T) {
-	m := All(badChartDir).Messages
+	m := All(badChartDir, namespace).Messages
 	if len(m) != 5 {
 		t.Errorf("Number of errors %v", len(m))
 		t.Errorf("All didn't fail with expected errors, got %#v", m)
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ func TestBadChart(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestInvalidYaml(t *testing.T) {
-	m := All(badYamlFileDir).Messages
+	m := All(badYamlFileDir, namespace).Messages
 	if len(m) != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("All didn't fail with expected errors, got %#v", m)
 	}
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ func TestInvalidYaml(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestBadValues(t *testing.T) {
-	m := All(badValuesFileDir).Messages
+	m := All(badValuesFileDir, namespace).Messages
 	if len(m) != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("All didn't fail with expected errors, got %#v", m)
 	}
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ func TestBadValues(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGoodChart(t *testing.T) {
-	m := All(goodChartDir).Messages
+	m := All(goodChartDir, namespace).Messages
 	if len(m) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("All failed but shouldn't have: %#v", m)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/lint/rules/template.go b/pkg/lint/rules/template.go
index 9343a3a84..c4264e493 100644
--- a/pkg/lint/rules/template.go
+++ b/pkg/lint/rules/template.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Templates lints the templates in the Linter.
-func Templates(linter *support.Linter) {
+func Templates(linter *support.Linter, namespace string) {
 	path := "templates/"
 	templatesPath := filepath.Join(linter.ChartDir, path)
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func Templates(linter *support.Linter) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	options := chartutil.ReleaseOptions{Name: "testRelease", Time: timeconv.Now(), Namespace: "testNamespace"}
+	options := chartutil.ReleaseOptions{Name: "testRelease", Time: timeconv.Now(), Namespace: namespace}
 	caps := &chartutil.Capabilities{
 		APIVersions:   chartutil.DefaultVersionSet,
 		KubeVersion:   chartutil.DefaultKubeVersion,
diff --git a/pkg/lint/rules/template_test.go b/pkg/lint/rules/template_test.go
index 5a56e22c9..686dc6a98 100644
--- a/pkg/lint/rules/template_test.go
+++ b/pkg/lint/rules/template_test.go
@@ -44,9 +44,11 @@ func TestValidateAllowedExtension(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+const namespace = "testNamespace"
+
 func TestTemplateParsing(t *testing.T) {
 	linter := support.Linter{ChartDir: templateTestBasedir}
-	Templates(&linter)
+	Templates(&linter, namespace)
 	res := linter.Messages
 
 	if len(res) != 1 {
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ func TestTemplateIntegrationHappyPath(t *testing.T) {
 	defer os.Rename(ignoredTemplatePath, wrongTemplatePath)
 
 	linter := support.Linter{ChartDir: templateTestBasedir}
-	Templates(&linter)
+	Templates(&linter, namespace)
 	res := linter.Messages
 
 	if len(res) != 0 {