diff --git a/cli/connectivity.go b/cli/connectivity.go
index ebff7abd7f..808f2791f4 100644
--- a/cli/connectivity.go
+++ b/cli/connectivity.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ func newCmdConnectivityTest(hooks api.Hooks) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&params.Timestamp, "timestamp", "t", false, "Show timestamp in messages")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&params.PauseOnFail, "pause-on-fail", "p", false, "Pause execution on test failure")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalTarget, "external-target", "one.one.one.one.", "Domain name to use as external target in connectivity tests")
-	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalTargetCANamespace, "external-target-ca-namespace", defaults.ConnectivityCheckNamespace, "Namespace of the CA secret for the external target. Used by client-egress-l7-tls test cases.")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalTargetCANamespace, "external-target-ca-namespace", "", "Namespace of the CA secret for the external target. Used by client-egress-l7-tls test cases.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalTargetCAName, "external-target-ca-name", "cabundle", "Name of the CA secret for the external target. Used by client-egress-l7-tls test cases.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalCIDR, "external-cidr", "1.0.0.0/8", "CIDR to use as external target in connectivity tests")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&params.ExternalIP, "external-ip", "1.1.1.1", "IP to use as external target in connectivity tests")
@@ -228,6 +228,9 @@ func newConnectivityTests(params check.Parameters, logger *check.ConcurrentLogge
 		params.TestConcurrency = 1
 	}
 	if params.TestConcurrency < 2 {
+		if params.ExternalTargetCANamespace == "" {
+			params.ExternalTargetCANamespace = defaults.ConnectivityCheckNamespace
+		}
 		cc, err := check.NewConnectivityTest(k8sClient, params, defaults.CLIVersion, logger)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -239,6 +242,9 @@ func newConnectivityTests(params check.Parameters, logger *check.ConcurrentLogge
 	for i := 0; i < params.TestConcurrency; i++ {
 		params := params
 		params.TestNamespace = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", params.TestNamespace, i+1)
+		if params.ExternalTargetCANamespace == "" {
+			params.ExternalTargetCANamespace = params.TestNamespace
+		}
 		params.ExternalDeploymentPort += i
 		params.EchoServerHostPort += i
 		params.JunitFile = junit.NamespacedFileName(params.TestNamespace, params.JunitFile)
diff --git a/cli/connectivity_test.go b/cli/connectivity_test.go
index 5a846270bd..2788abbe7c 100644
--- a/cli/connectivity_test.go
+++ b/cli/connectivity_test.go
@@ -14,35 +14,63 @@ import (
 
 func TestNewConnectivityTests(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
-		params                 check.Parameters
-		expectedCount          int
-		expectedTestNamespaces []string
+		params                            check.Parameters
+		expectedCount                     int
+		expectedTestNamespaces            []string
+		expectedExternalTargetCANamespace []string
 	}{
 		{
 			params: check.Parameters{
-				FlowValidation: check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
-				TestNamespace:  "cilium-test",
+				FlowValidation:            check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
+				TestNamespace:             "cilium-test",
+				ExternalTargetCANamespace: "",
 			},
-			expectedCount:          1,
-			expectedTestNamespaces: []string{"cilium-test"},
+			expectedCount:                     1,
+			expectedTestNamespaces:            []string{"cilium-test"},
+			expectedExternalTargetCANamespace: []string{"cilium-test"},
 		},
 		{
 			params: check.Parameters{
-				FlowValidation:  check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
-				TestNamespace:   "cilium-test",
-				TestConcurrency: -1,
+				FlowValidation:            check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
+				TestNamespace:             "cilium-test",
+				ExternalTargetCANamespace: "cilium-test",
 			},
-			expectedCount:          1,
-			expectedTestNamespaces: []string{"cilium-test"},
+			expectedCount:                     1,
+			expectedTestNamespaces:            []string{"cilium-test"},
+			expectedExternalTargetCANamespace: []string{"cilium-test"},
 		},
 		{
 			params: check.Parameters{
-				FlowValidation:  check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
-				TestNamespace:   "cilium-test",
-				TestConcurrency: 3,
+				FlowValidation:            check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
+				TestNamespace:             "cilium-test",
+				ExternalTargetCANamespace: "cilium-test",
+				TestConcurrency:           -1,
 			},
-			expectedCount:          3,
-			expectedTestNamespaces: []string{"cilium-test-1", "cilium-test-2", "cilium-test-3"},
+			expectedCount:                     1,
+			expectedTestNamespaces:            []string{"cilium-test"},
+			expectedExternalTargetCANamespace: []string{"cilium-test"},
+		},
+		{
+			params: check.Parameters{
+				FlowValidation:            check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
+				TestNamespace:             "cilium-test",
+				ExternalTargetCANamespace: "",
+				TestConcurrency:           3,
+			},
+			expectedCount:                     3,
+			expectedTestNamespaces:            []string{"cilium-test-1", "cilium-test-2", "cilium-test-3"},
+			expectedExternalTargetCANamespace: []string{"cilium-test-1", "cilium-test-2", "cilium-test-3"},
+		},
+		{
+			params: check.Parameters{
+				FlowValidation:            check.FlowValidationModeDisabled,
+				TestNamespace:             "cilium-test",
+				ExternalTargetCANamespace: "cilium-test",
+				TestConcurrency:           3,
+			},
+			expectedCount:                     3,
+			expectedTestNamespaces:            []string{"cilium-test-1", "cilium-test-2", "cilium-test-3"},
+			expectedExternalTargetCANamespace: []string{"cilium-test"},
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range testCases {
@@ -54,5 +82,8 @@ func TestNewConnectivityTests(t *testing.T) {
 		for i, n := range tt.expectedTestNamespaces {
 			require.Equal(t, n, actual[i].Params().TestNamespace)
 		}
+		for i, n := range tt.expectedExternalTargetCANamespace {
+			require.Equal(t, n, actual[i].Params().ExternalTargetCANamespace)
+		}
 	}
 }