diff --git a/controllers/trustyaiservice_controller.go b/controllers/trustyaiservice_controller.go
index cf0ec97f..00600da7 100644
--- a/controllers/trustyaiservice_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/trustyaiservice_controller.go
@@ -93,9 +93,8 @@ func (r *TrustyAIServiceReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Requ
 		if containsString(instance.Finalizers, finalizerName) {
 			// The finalizer is present, so we handle external dependency deletion
 			if err := r.deleteExternalDependency(req.Name, instance, req.Namespace, ctx); err != nil {
-				// If fail to delete the external dependency here, return with error
-				// so that it can be retried
-				return RequeueWithErrorMessage(ctx, err, "Failed to delete external dependencies.")
+				// Log the error instead of returning it, so we proceed to remove the finalizer without blocking
+				log.FromContext(ctx).Error(err, "Failed to delete external dependencies, but proceeding with finalizer removal.")
 			}
 
 			// Remove the finalizer from the list and update it.
diff --git a/tests/smoke/test_smoke.sh b/tests/smoke/test_smoke.sh
index 710c5d2b..ed77b145 100755
--- a/tests/smoke/test_smoke.sh
+++ b/tests/smoke/test_smoke.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,17 @@ SERVICE_NAME_2="trustyai-service-tls"
 kubectl create namespace "$NAMESPACE"
 kubectl apply -f "$CRD_PATH" -n "$NAMESPACE"
 
+log_success() {
+    local message=$1
+    echo "✅ $message"
+}
+
+log_failure() {
+    local message=$1
+    echo "❌ $message"
+    exit 1
+}
+
 # Function to check resource existence
 check_resource() {
     local resource_type=$1
@@ -22,10 +33,9 @@ check_resource() {
     local namespace=$3
 
     if ! kubectl get "$resource_type" -n "$namespace" | grep -q "$resource_name"; then
-        echo "❌ Failed to find $resource_type: $resource_name in namespace $namespace"
-        exit 1
+        log_failure "Failed to find $resource_type: $resource_name in namespace $namespace"
     else
-        echo "✅ $resource_type: $resource_name found in namespace $namespace"
+        log_success "$resource_type: $resource_name found in namespace $namespace"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -38,4 +48,14 @@ check_resource service "$SERVICE_NAME_2" "$NAMESPACE"
 # Check for the PVC creation
 check_resource pvc "$PVC_NAME" "$NAMESPACE"
 
+kubectl delete namespace "$NAMESPACE"
+
+sleep 10
+
+if kubectl get namespace "$NAMESPACE" &> /dev/null; then
+    log_failure "Namespace $NAMESPACE was not deleted successfully"
+else
+    log_success "Namespace $NAMESPACE has been deleted successfully"
+fi
+
 echo "All tests passed successfully."