diff --git a/cmd/helm/helm.go b/cmd/helm/helm.go
index 61513770b..6fe08b07e 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/helm.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/helm.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Environment:
   $HELM_HOME          set an alternative location for Helm files. By default, these are stored in ~/.helm
   $HELM_HOST          set an alternative Tiller host. The format is host:port
   $HELM_NO_PLUGINS    disable plugins. Set HELM_NO_PLUGINS=1 to disable plugins.
-  $TILLER_NAMESPACE   set an alternative Tiller namespace (default "kube-namespace")
+  $TILLER_NAMESPACE   set an alternative Tiller namespace (default "kube-system")
   $KUBECONFIG         set an alternative Kubernetes configuration file (default "~/.kube/config")
 `
 
diff --git a/docs/helm/helm.md b/docs/helm/helm.md
index d1749718a..36e41835e 100644
--- a/docs/helm/helm.md
+++ b/docs/helm/helm.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Environment:
   $HELM_HOME          set an alternative location for Helm files. By default, these are stored in ~/.helm
   $HELM_HOST          set an alternative Tiller host. The format is host:port
   $HELM_NO_PLUGINS    disable plugins. Set HELM_NO_PLUGINS=1 to disable plugins.
-  $TILLER_NAMESPACE   set an alternative Tiller namespace (default "kube-namespace")
+  $TILLER_NAMESPACE   set an alternative Tiller namespace (default "kube-system")
   $KUBECONFIG         set an alternative Kubernetes configuration file (default "~/.kube/config")