diff --git a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/test_types.go b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/test_types.go
index 7907eaf7..4330fff3 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/test_types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/test_types.go
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ type TestSuite struct {
 	// Any other value is the name of the namespace to use.  This namespace will be created if it does not exist and will
 	// be removed it was created (unless --skipDelete is used).
 	Namespace string `json:"namespace"`
+	// BlockOnNamespaceDelete determines if the test suite should wait until a namespace is deleted before it finishes
+	BlockOnNamespaceDelete bool `json:"blockOnNamespaceDelete"`
 	// Suppress is used to suppress logs
 	Suppress []string `json:"suppress"`
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kuttlctl/cmd/test.go b/pkg/kuttlctl/cmd/test.go
index a97b949a..788f4262 100644
--- a/pkg/kuttlctl/cmd/test.go
+++ b/pkg/kuttlctl/cmd/test.go
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ func newTestCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	startKIND := false
 	kindConfig := ""
 	kindContext := ""
+	blockOnNamespaceDelete := false
 	skipDelete := false
 	skipClusterDelete := false
 	parallel := 0
@@ -182,6 +183,10 @@ For more detailed documentation, visit: https://kuttl.dev`,
 				options.Namespace = namespace
 			}
 
+			if isSet(flags, "block-on-namespace-delete") {
+				options.BlockOnNamespaceDelete = blockOnNamespaceDelete
+			}
+
 			if isSet(flags, "suppress-log") {
 				suppressSet := make(map[string]struct{})
 				for _, s := range append(options.Suppress, suppress...) {
@@ -251,6 +256,7 @@ For more detailed documentation, visit: https://kuttl.dev`,
 	testCmd.Flags().IntVar(&timeout, "timeout", 30, "The timeout to use as default for TestSuite configuration.")
 	testCmd.Flags().StringVar(&reportFormat, "report", "", "Specify JSON|XML for report.  Report location determined by --artifacts-dir.")
 	testCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&namespace, "namespace", "n", "", "Namespace to use for tests. Provided namespaces must exist prior to running tests.")
+	testCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&blockOnNamespaceDelete, "block-on-namespace-delete", false, "Block the test harness until the namespace is deleted")
 	testCmd.Flags().StringSliceVar(&suppress, "suppress-log", []string{}, "Suppress logging for these kinds of logs (events).")
 	// This cannot be a global flag because pkg/test/utils.RunTests calls flag.Parse which barfs on unknown top-level flags.
 	// Putting it here at least does not advertise it on a level where using it is impossible.
diff --git a/pkg/test/case.go b/pkg/test/case.go
index 496a62a2..76368e10 100644
--- a/pkg/test/case.go
+++ b/pkg/test/case.go
@@ -34,12 +34,13 @@ var testStepRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\d+)-(?:[^\.]+)(?:\.yaml)?$`)
 // Case contains all of the test steps and the Kubernetes client and other global configuration
 // for a test.
 type Case struct {
-	Steps              []*Step
-	Name               string
-	Dir                string
-	SkipDelete         bool
-	Timeout            int
-	PreferredNamespace string
+	Steps                  []*Step
+	Name                   string
+	Dir                    string
+	SkipDelete             bool
+	Timeout                int
+	PreferredNamespace     string
+	BlockOnNamespaceDelete bool
 
 	Client          func(forceNew bool) (client.Client, error)
 	DiscoveryClient func() (discovery.DiscoveryInterface, error)
@@ -84,13 +85,18 @@ func (t *Case) DeleteNamespace(cl client.Client, ns *namespace) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return wait.PollImmediateUntil(100*time.Millisecond, func() (done bool, err error) {
-		err = cl.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(nsobj), &corev1.Namespace{})
-		if err == nil || !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
-			return false, err
-		}
-		return true, nil
-	}, ctx.Done())
+	if t.BlockOnNamespaceDelete {
+		t.Logger.Log("Blocking until namespace is deleted:", ns.Name)
+		return wait.PollImmediateUntil(100*time.Millisecond, func() (done bool, err error) {
+			err = cl.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(nsobj), &corev1.Namespace{})
+			if err == nil || !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			return true, nil
+		}, ctx.Done())
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 // CreateNamespace creates a namespace in Kubernetes to use for a test.
diff --git a/pkg/test/harness.go b/pkg/test/harness.go
index 1e972295..b2a79a8e 100644
--- a/pkg/test/harness.go
+++ b/pkg/test/harness.go
@@ -79,13 +79,14 @@ func (h *Harness) LoadTests(dir string) ([]*Case, error) {
 		}
 
 		tests = append(tests, &Case{
-			Timeout:            timeout,
-			Steps:              []*Step{},
-			Name:               file.Name(),
-			PreferredNamespace: h.TestSuite.Namespace,
-			Dir:                filepath.Join(dir, file.Name()),
-			SkipDelete:         h.TestSuite.SkipDelete,
-			Suppress:           h.TestSuite.Suppress,
+			Timeout:                timeout,
+			Steps:                  []*Step{},
+			Name:                   file.Name(),
+			PreferredNamespace:     h.TestSuite.Namespace,
+			Dir:                    filepath.Join(dir, file.Name()),
+			BlockOnNamespaceDelete: h.TestSuite.BlockOnNamespaceDelete,
+			SkipDelete:             h.TestSuite.SkipDelete,
+			Suppress:               h.TestSuite.Suppress,
 		})
 	}