diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2b64e8a..4552b2e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ No modules.
 | Name | Description | Type | Default | Required |
 |------|-------------|------|---------|:--------:|
 | <a name="input_cluster_name"></a> [cluster\_name](#input\_cluster\_name) | EKS cluster name name component used through out the EKS cluster describing its purpose (ex: dice-dev) | `string` | n/a | yes |
+| <a name="input_istio_namespace"></a> [istio\_namespace](#input\_istio\_namespace) | The namespace to install the istio components. Defaults to 'istio-system' | `string` | `"istio-system"` | no |
 | <a name="input_os_username"></a> [os\_username](#input\_os\_username) | OS username from environment variable, ideally as $USER | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_region"></a> [region](#input\_region) | AWS config region | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_region_map"></a> [region\_map](#input\_region\_map) | AWS region map | `map(string)` | <pre>{<br>  "east": "us-gov-east-1",<br>  "west": "us-gov-west-1"<br>}</pre> | no |
diff --git a/aws_data.tf b/aws_data.tf
index e3e0caa..ba784be 100644
--- a/aws_data.tf
+++ b/aws_data.tf
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ data "aws_vpc" "dummy_vpc" {
 data "kubernetes_service" "istio_ingressgateway" {
   metadata {
     name      = "istio-ingressgateway"
-    namespace = "istio-system"
+    namespace = var.istio_namespace
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index fd07e63..3387100 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ variable "os_username" {
 # DNS variables
 ###################################################################
 
+variable "istio_namespace" {
+  description = "The namespace to install the istio components. Defaults to 'istio-system'"
+  type        = string
+  default     = "istio-system"
+}
 
 variable "region_map" {
   description = "AWS region map"