diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 767b380a2a..03960a7d6b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
 FEATURES:
 * Peering: Add support for `PeerThroughMeshGateways` in Mesh CRD. [[GH-1478](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul-k8s/pull/1478)]
 
+BREAKING CHANGES:
+* Helm:
+  * `syncCatalog.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S` now defaults to `true`. [[GH-1601](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul-k8s/pull/1601)]
+  * `connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S` now defaults to `true`. [[GH-1601](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul-k8s/pull/1601)]
+
 IMPROVEMENTS:
 * Helm:
   * API Gateway: Allow controller to read MeshServices for use as a route backend. [[GH-1574](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul-k8s/pull/1574)]
diff --git a/charts/consul/templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml b/charts/consul/templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml
index 934e5fd92a..01285dd410 100644
--- a/charts/consul/templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/consul/templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 {{- if and .Values.global.peering.enabled (not .Values.connectInject.enabled) }}{{ fail "setting global.peering.enabled to true requires connectInject.enabled to be true" }}{{ end }}
 {{- if (or (and (ne (.Values.connectInject.enabled | toString) "-") .Values.connectInject.enabled) (and (eq (.Values.connectInject.enabled | toString) "-") .Values.global.enabled)) }}
-{{- if and .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S (not .Values.global.enableConsulNamespaces) }}{{ fail "global.enableConsulNamespaces must be true if mirroringK8S=true" }}{{ end }}
 {{- if and .Values.global.adminPartitions.enabled (not .Values.global.enableConsulNamespaces) }}{{ fail "global.enableConsulNamespaces must be true if global.adminPartitions.enabled=true" }}{{ end }}
 {{ template "consul.validateVaultWebhookCertConfiguration" . }}
 {{- template "consul.reservedNamesFailer" (list .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.consulDestinationNamespace "connectInject.consulNamespaces.consulDestinationNamespace") }}
@@ -206,7 +205,7 @@ spec:
                 {{- if .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.consulDestinationNamespace }}
                 -consul-destination-namespace={{ .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.consulDestinationNamespace }} \
                 {{- end }}
-                {{- if .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S }}
+                {{- if and .Values.global.enableConsulNamespaces .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S }}
                 -enable-k8s-namespace-mirroring=true \
                 {{- if .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8SPrefix }}
                 -k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix={{ .Values.connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8SPrefix }} \
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/connect-inject-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/connect-inject-deployment.bats
index 0bf32df3c1..cd65be8839 100755
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/connect-inject-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/connect-inject-deployment.bats
@@ -653,17 +653,6 @@ load _helpers
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------
 # namespaces
 
-@test "connectInject/Deployment: fails if namespaces are disabled and mirroringK8S is true" {
-  cd `chart_dir`
-  run helm template \
-      -s templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml  \
-      --set 'global.enableConsulNamespaces=false' \
-      --set 'connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S=true' \
-      --set 'connectInject.enabled=true' .
-  [ "$status" -eq 1 ]
-  [[ "$output" =~ "global.enableConsulNamespaces must be true if mirroringK8S=true" ]]
-}
-
 @test "connectInject/Deployment: namespace options disabled by default" {
   cd `chart_dir`
   local object=$(helm template \
@@ -708,20 +697,20 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
   [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
 }
 
-@test "connectInject/Deployment: mirroring options set with .connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S=true" {
+@test "connectInject/Deployment: mirroring options omitted with .connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S=false" {
   cd `chart_dir`
   local object=$(helm template \
       -s templates/connect-inject-deployment.yaml  \
       --set 'connectInject.enabled=true' \
       --set 'global.enableConsulNamespaces=true' \
-      --set 'connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S=true' \
+      --set 'connectInject.consulNamespaces.mirroringK8S=false' \
       . | tee /dev/stderr |
       yq '.spec.template.spec.containers[0].command' | tee /dev/stderr)
 
@@ -735,7 +724,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-k8s-namespace-mirroring=true"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/controller-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/controller-deployment.bats
index c424720b2f..9c9cadc404 100644
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/controller-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/controller-deployment.bats
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/server-acl-init-job.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/server-acl-init-job.bats
index aee0c3f003..d05b4ea6aa 100644
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/server-acl-init-job.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/server-acl-init-job.bats
@@ -1072,7 +1072,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
@@ -1099,7 +1099,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-sync-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("sync-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
@@ -1115,7 +1115,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
@@ -1159,7 +1159,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
@@ -1204,7 +1204,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("inject-k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/unit/sync-catalog-deployment.bats b/charts/consul/test/unit/sync-catalog-deployment.bats
index 083838d7b9..29a1e9cf5b 100755
--- a/charts/consul/test/unit/sync-catalog-deployment.bats
+++ b/charts/consul/test/unit/sync-catalog-deployment.bats
@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ load _helpers
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("enable-k8s-namespace-mirroring"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
-  [ "${actual}" = "false" ]
+  [ "${actual}" = "true" ]
 
   local actual=$(echo $object |
     yq 'any(contains("k8s-namespace-mirroring-prefix"))' | tee /dev/stderr)
diff --git a/charts/consul/values.yaml b/charts/consul/values.yaml
index f8bdb67d31..1d89eed9b1 100644
--- a/charts/consul/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/consul/values.yaml
@@ -1755,7 +1755,7 @@ syncCatalog:
     # If mirroring is enabled, avoid creating any Consul resources in the following 
     # Kubernetes namespaces, as Consul currently reserves these namespaces for 
     # system use: "system", "universal", "operator", "root". 
-    mirroringK8S: false
+    mirroringK8S: true
 
     # If `mirroringK8S` is set to true, `mirroringK8SPrefix` allows each Consul namespace
     # to be given a prefix. For example, if `mirroringK8SPrefix` is set to "k8s-", a
@@ -2205,7 +2205,7 @@ connectInject:
     # `consulDestinationNamespace` setting. If mirroring is enabled, avoid creating any Consul 
     # resources in the following Kubernetes namespaces, as Consul currently reserves these 
     # namespaces for system use: "system", "universal", "operator", "root". 
-    mirroringK8S: false
+    mirroringK8S: true
 
     # If `mirroringK8S` is set to true, `mirroringK8SPrefix` allows each Consul namespace
     # to be given a prefix. For example, if `mirroringK8SPrefix` is set to "k8s-", a