diff --git a/controllers/rekor/utils/rekor_deployment.go b/controllers/rekor/utils/rekor_deployment.go
index b4facfcd3..60987bbed 100644
--- a/controllers/rekor/utils/rekor_deployment.go
+++ b/controllers/rekor/utils/rekor_deployment.go
@@ -13,18 +13,19 @@ import (
 func CreateRekorDeployment(instance *v1alpha1.Rekor, dpName string, sa string, labels map[string]string) *apps.Deployment {
 	env := make([]core.EnvVar, 0)
 
-	trillianPort := "8091"
+	trillianUrl := "trillian-logserver." + instance.Namespace + ".svc"
 	if instance.Spec.ExternalTrillianUrl != "" {
-		trillianNamespace = instance.Spec.ExternalTrillianUrl
+		trillianUrl = instance.Spec.ExternalTrillianUrl
 	}
 
+	trillianPort := "8091"
 	if instance.Spec.TrillianPort != "" {
 		trillianPort = instance.Spec.TrillianPort
 	}
 
 	appArgs := []string{
 		"serve",
-		"--trillian_log_server.address=" + instance.Spec.ExternalTrillian + "",
+		"--trillian_log_server.address=" + trillianUrl + "",
 		"--trillian_log_server.port=" + trillianPort + "",
 		"--trillian_log_server.sharding_config=/sharding/sharding-config.yaml",
 		"--redis_server.address=rekor-redis",