diff --git a/controllers/external/util.go b/controllers/external/util.go
index 4efdb9c133f2..505f7a2f5987 100644
--- a/controllers/external/util.go
+++ b/controllers/external/util.go
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ func Get(ctx context.Context, c client.Reader, ref *corev1.ObjectReference, name
 	obj.SetAPIVersion(ref.APIVersion)
 	obj.SetKind(ref.Kind)
 	obj.SetName(ref.Name)
-	key := client.ObjectKey{Name: obj.GetName(), Namespace: namespace}
-	if err := c.Get(ctx, key, obj); err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to retrieve %s external object %q/%q", obj.GetKind(), key.Namespace, key.Name)
+	obj.SetNamespace(ref.Namespace)
+	if err := c.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(obj), obj); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to retrieve %s external object %q/%q", obj.GetKind(), ref.Namespace, ref.Name)
 	}
 	return obj, nil
 }