diff --git a/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client.go b/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client.go
index 0ad8dfdcf..34b6f296f 100644
--- a/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client.go
+++ b/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client.go
@@ -1849,6 +1849,8 @@ func (k *KubeClient) PatchCSIDriverByLabel(label string, patchBytes []byte, patc
 	return nil
 }
 
+
+// CheckNamespaceExists checks if the installation namespace already exists
 func (k *KubeClient) CheckNamespaceExists(namespace string) (bool, error) {
 	if _, err := k.GetNamespace(namespace); err != nil {
 		if statusErr, ok := err.(*apierrors.StatusError); ok && statusErr.Status().Reason == metav1.StatusReasonNotFound {
@@ -1859,6 +1861,22 @@ func (k *KubeClient) CheckNamespaceExists(namespace string) (bool, error) {
 	return true, nil
 }
 
+// CheckNamespaceLabels checks if the installation namespace already has the required labels
+func (k *KubeClient) CheckNamespaceLabels(namespace string, labels map[string]string) bool {
+	ns, err := k.GetNamespace(namespace)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	for key, value := range labels {
+		if ns.Labels[key] != value {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+
 // PatchNamespaceLabels patches the namespace with provided labels
 func (k *KubeClient) PatchNamespaceLabels(namespace string, labels map[string]string) error {
 	patch, err := json.Marshal(map[string]interface{}{
diff --git a/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client_test.go b/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client_test.go
index f2204d5bc..bf3fa8a29 100644
--- a/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client_test.go
+++ b/cli/k8s_client/k8s_client_test.go
@@ -971,6 +971,10 @@ func TestNamespaceOperations(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, exists)
 	assert.NoError(t, err) // Existence checks should not error
 
+	// Test CheckNamespaceLabels
+	hasLabel := suite.kubeClient.CheckNamespaceLabels("nonexistent", map[string]string{"kubernetes.io/metadata.name": "test-namespace"})
+	assert.False(t, hasLabel)
+
 	// Test GetNamespace
 	namespace, err := suite.kubeClient.GetNamespace("test-namespace")
 	// Fake client may behave differently - accept either outcome
diff --git a/cli/k8s_client/types.go b/cli/k8s_client/types.go
index 3071a6c5a..9e6bb2942 100644
--- a/cli/k8s_client/types.go
+++ b/cli/k8s_client/types.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ type KubernetesClient interface {
 	DeleteCSIDriver(name string) error
 	PatchCSIDriverByLabel(label string, patchBytes []byte, patchType types.PatchType) error
 	CheckNamespaceExists(namespace string) (bool, error)
+	CheckNamespaceLabels(namespace string, labels map[string]string) error
 	PatchNamespaceLabels(namespace string, labels map[string]string) error
 	PatchNamespace(namespace string, patchBytes []byte, patchType types.PatchType) error
 	GetNamespace(namespace string) (*v1.Namespace, error)
diff --git a/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer.go b/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer.go
index d0c385ae3..45712bb72 100644
--- a/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer.go
+++ b/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer.go
@@ -1283,6 +1283,18 @@ func (i *Installer) createOrPatchTridentInstallationNamespace() error {
 		}
 		Log().WithField("namespace", i.namespace).Info("Created Trident installation namespace.")
 	} else {
+		// Check if namespace is already labeled
+		hasLabels := i.client.CheckNamespaceLabels(i.namespace, map[string]string{
+			commonconfig.PodSecurityStandardsEnforceLabel: commonconfig.PodSecurityStandardsEnforceProfile,
+        })
+
+		if hasLabels {
+			Log().WithField("namespace", i.namespace).Info("Trident installation namespace already has the correct labels.")
+			return nil
+		} else {
+			Log().WithField("namespace", i.namespace).Info("Namespace missing labels. Attempting to patch now.")
+		}
+
 		// Patch namespace
 		err := i.client.PatchNamespaceLabels(i.namespace, map[string]string{
 			commonconfig.PodSecurityStandardsEnforceLabel: commonconfig.PodSecurityStandardsEnforceProfile,
diff --git a/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer_test.go b/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer_test.go
index 4bdd77fc8..92a6e8d83 100644
--- a/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer_test.go
+++ b/operator/controllers/orchestrator/installer/installer_test.go
@@ -1857,6 +1857,19 @@ func TestInstallOrPatchTrident(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Empty(t, acpVersion)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("namespace exists but missing labels", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Setup: namespace exists BUT labels check fails
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().CheckNamespaceExists(installer.namespace).Return(true, nil)
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().CheckNamespaceLabels(installer.namespace, mock.Anything).Return(false)
+
+		// Maybe we expect it to patch the labels?
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().PatchNamespaceLabels(installer.namespace, mock.Anything).Return(nil)
+
+		// When we call the function, it should handle the missing labels
+		err := installer.createOrPatchTridentInstallationNamespace()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	})
+
 	t.Run("failure creating RBAC objects", func(t *testing.T) {
 		// Mock setInstallationParams to succeed
 		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().ServerVersion().Return(&version.Version{}).AnyTimes()
@@ -3204,6 +3217,32 @@ func TestCreateOrPatchTridentInstallationNamespace(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to create Trident installation namespace")
 	})
 
+	t.Run("failure checking if the namespace has labels", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Mock CheckNamespaceExists to return true (namespace exists)
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().CheckNamespaceExists(installer.namespace).Return(true, nil)
+
+		// Mock GetNamespace to return namespace WITHOUT the required labels
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().GetNamespace(installer.namespace).Return(
+			&corev1.Namespace{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:   installer.namespace,
+					Labels: map[string]string{}, // Empty labels
+				},
+			},
+			nil,
+		)
+
+		// Mock CheckNamespaceLabels to return false (labels missing)
+		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().CheckNamespaceLabels(
+			installer.namespace,
+			map[string]string{"kubernetes.io/metadata.name": installer.namespace},
+		).Return(false)
+
+		err := installer.createOrPatchTridentInstallationNamespace()
+		assert.Error(t, err, "expected error when checking namespace labels fails")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Trident installation namespace does not have expected labels")
+	})
+
 	t.Run("failure patching namespace labels", func(t *testing.T) {
 		// Mock CheckNamespaceExists to return true (namespace exists)
 		mockK8sClient.EXPECT().CheckNamespaceExists(installer.namespace).Return(true, nil)