diff --git a/cmd/ctr/main.go b/cmd/ctr/main.go
index 9c39c87f11f2..3120a517ecda 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/main.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/version"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
@@ -48,8 +49,8 @@ containerd CLI
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:   "namespace, n",
 			Usage:  "namespace to use with commands",
-			Value:  "default",
-			EnvVar: "CONTAINERD_NAMESPACE",
+			Value:  namespaces.Default,
+			EnvVar: namespaces.NamespaceEnvVar,
 		},
 	}
 	app.Commands = append([]cli.Command{
diff --git a/cmd/dist/main.go b/cmd/dist/main.go
index d5da0ee19df1..9c7f7bd2038c 100644
--- a/cmd/dist/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dist/main.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	namespaces2 "github.com/containerd/containerd/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/version"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
@@ -62,8 +63,8 @@ distribution tool
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:   "namespace, n",
 			Usage:  "namespace to use with commands",
-			Value:  "default",
-			EnvVar: "CONTAINERD_NAMESPACE",
+			Value:  namespaces2.Default,
+			EnvVar: namespaces2.NamespaceEnvVar,
 		},
 	}
 	app.Commands = []cli.Command{
diff --git a/namespaces/context.go b/namespaces/context.go
index 31c2a0410709..b08fded5b88e 100644
--- a/namespaces/context.go
+++ b/namespaces/context.go
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	namespaceEnvVar  = "CONTAINERD_NAMESPACE"
-	defaultNamespace = "default"
+	NamespaceEnvVar = "CONTAINERD_NAMESPACE"
+	Default         = "default"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ func WithNamespace(ctx context.Context, namespace string) context.Context {
 // NamespaceFromEnv uses the namespace defined in CONTAINERD_NAMESPACE or
 // default
 func NamespaceFromEnv(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
-	namespace := os.Getenv(namespaceEnvVar)
+	namespace := os.Getenv(NamespaceEnvVar)
 	if namespace == "" {
-		namespace = defaultNamespace
+		namespace = Default
 	}
 	return WithNamespace(ctx, namespace)
 }
diff --git a/namespaces/context_test.go b/namespaces/context_test.go
index 09159efe3c4f..41eee5d7e671 100644
--- a/namespaces/context_test.go
+++ b/namespaces/context_test.go
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ func TestContext(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestNamespaceFromEnv(t *testing.T) {
-	oldenv := os.Getenv(namespaceEnvVar)
-	defer os.Setenv(namespaceEnvVar, oldenv) // restore old env var
+	oldenv := os.Getenv(NamespaceEnvVar)
+	defer os.Setenv(NamespaceEnvVar, oldenv) // restore old env var
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	namespace, ok := Namespace(ctx)
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func TestNamespaceFromEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	expected := "test-namespace"
-	os.Setenv(namespaceEnvVar, expected)
+	os.Setenv(NamespaceEnvVar, expected)
 	nctx := NamespaceFromEnv(ctx)
 
 	namespace, ok = Namespace(nctx)