diff --git a/pkg/engine/health/health.go b/pkg/engine/health/health.go
index 936e7595d..6a324e862 100644
--- a/pkg/engine/health/health.go
+++ b/pkg/engine/health/health.go
@@ -121,6 +121,12 @@ func IsHealthy(obj runtime.Object) error {
 		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("pod %q is not running yet: %s", obj.Name, obj.Status.Phase)
 
+	case *corev1.Namespace:
+		if obj.Status.Phase == corev1.NamespaceActive {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("namespace %s is not active: %s", obj.Name, obj.Status.Phase)
+
 	// unless we build logic for what a healthy object is, assume it's healthy when created.
 	default:
 		log.Printf("HealthUtil: Unknown type %s is marked healthy by default", reflect.TypeOf(obj))
diff --git a/pkg/kudoctl/cmd/init.go b/pkg/kudoctl/cmd/init.go
index 27b1edaf6..850e563b9 100644
--- a/pkg/kudoctl/cmd/init.go
+++ b/pkg/kudoctl/cmd/init.go
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func (initCmd *initCmd) run() error {
 
 	if initCmd.wait {
 		clog.Printf("⌛Waiting for KUDO controller to be ready in your cluster...")
-		err := setup.WatchKUDOUntilReady(initCmd.client.KubeClient, opts, initCmd.timeout)
+		err := setup.WatchKUDOUntilReady(installer, initCmd.client, initCmd.timeout)
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.New("watch timed out, readiness uncertain")
 		}
@@ -287,13 +287,12 @@ func (initCmd *initCmd) runYamlOutput(installer kudoinit.Artifacter) error {
 // verifyExistingInstallation checks if the current installation is valid and as expected
 func (initCmd *initCmd) verifyExistingInstallation(v kudoinit.InstallVerifier) error {
 	clog.V(4).Printf("verify existing installation")
-	result := verifier.NewResult()
-	if err := v.VerifyInstallation(initCmd.client, &result); err != nil {
+	ok, err := setup.VerifyExistingInstallation(v, initCmd.client, initCmd.out)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	result.PrintWarnings(initCmd.out)
-	if !result.IsValid() {
-		result.PrintErrors(initCmd.out)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("KUDO installation is not valid")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/crd/crds.go b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/crd/crds.go
index 067a53438..b87ec80c1 100644
--- a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/crd/crds.go
+++ b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/crd/crds.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
+	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/engine/health"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/clog"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kube"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit"
@@ -121,6 +122,10 @@ func (c Initializer) verifyInstallation(client v1beta1.CustomResourceDefinitions
 		result.AddErrors(fmt.Sprintf("Installed CRD %s has invalid version %s, expected %s", crd.Name, existingCrd.Spec.Version, crd.Spec.Version))
 		return nil
 	}
+	if err := health.IsHealthy(existingCrd); err != nil {
+		result.AddErrors(fmt.Sprintf("Installed CRD %s is not healthy: %v", crd.Name, err))
+		return nil
+	}
 	clog.V(2).Printf("CRD %s is installed with version %s", crd.Name, existingCrd.Spec.Versions[0].Name)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/prereq/namespace.go b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/prereq/namespace.go
index 959cf3974..ab6cd9314 100644
--- a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/prereq/namespace.go
+++ b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/prereq/namespace.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 
+	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/engine/health"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/clog"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kube"
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit"
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ func (o KudoNamespace) PreUpgradeVerify(client *kube.Client, result *verifier.Re
 }
 
 func (o KudoNamespace) VerifyInstallation(client *kube.Client, result *verifier.Result) error {
-	_, err := client.KubeClient.CoreV1().Namespaces().Get(context.TODO(), o.opts.Namespace, metav1.GetOptions{})
+	ns, err := client.KubeClient.CoreV1().Namespaces().Get(context.TODO(), o.opts.Namespace, metav1.GetOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
 		if kerrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 			result.AddErrors(fmt.Sprintf("namespace %s does not exist", o.opts.Namespace))
@@ -72,6 +73,9 @@ func (o KudoNamespace) VerifyInstallation(client *kube.Client, result *verifier.
 		}
 		return err
 	}
+	if err := health.IsHealthy(ns); err != nil {
+		result.AddErrors(fmt.Sprintf("namespace %s is not healthy: %v", o.opts.Namespace, err))
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/setup.go b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/setup.go
index 5e99c0295..b1073841b 100644
--- a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/setup.go
+++ b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/setup.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package setup
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 
@@ -167,3 +168,22 @@ func (i *Installer) Resources() []runtime.Object {
 
 	return allManifests
 }
+
+// verifyExistingInstallation checks if the current installation is valid and as expected
+func VerifyExistingInstallation(v kudoinit.InstallVerifier, client *kube.Client, out io.Writer) (bool, error) {
+	clog.V(4).Printf("verify existing installation")
+	result := verifier.NewResult()
+	if err := v.VerifyInstallation(client, &result); err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if out != nil {
+		result.PrintWarnings(out)
+	}
+	if !result.IsValid() {
+		if out != nil {
+			result.PrintErrors(out)
+		}
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/wait.go b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/wait.go
index 1eb9c163d..4d4c110d8 100644
--- a/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/wait.go
+++ b/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit/setup/wait.go
@@ -1,36 +1,22 @@
 package setup
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/engine/health"
+	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kube"
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
-	appsv1 "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/apps/v1"
-
 	"github.com/kudobuilder/kudo/pkg/kudoctl/kudoinit"
 )
 
-// WatchKUDOUntilReady waits for the KUDO pod to become available.
+// WatchKUDOUntilReady waits for the KUDO installation to become available.
 //
 // Returns no error if it exists. If the timeout was reached and it could not find the pod, it returns error.
-func WatchKUDOUntilReady(client kubernetes.Interface, opts kudoinit.Options, timeout int64) error {
+func WatchKUDOUntilReady(v kudoinit.InstallVerifier, client *kube.Client, timeout int64) error {
 	return wait.PollImmediate(500*time.Millisecond, time.Duration(timeout)*time.Second,
-		func() (bool, error) { return verifyKudoStatefulset(client.AppsV1(), opts.Namespace) })
-}
-
-func verifyKudoStatefulset(client appsv1.StatefulSetsGetter, namespace string) (bool, error) {
-	ss, err := client.StatefulSets(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), kudoinit.DefaultManagerName, metav1.GetOptions{})
-	if err != nil || ss == nil {
-		return false, err
-	}
-	err = health.IsHealthy(ss)
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, nil
-	}
-	return true, nil
+		func() (bool, error) {
+			return VerifyExistingInstallation(v, client, nil)
+		},
+	)
 }