diff --git a/charts/community-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl b/charts/community-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d26d6e1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/community-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+{{/*
+Construct the default namespace name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.namespace" -}}
+{{- default .Release.Namespace .Values.operator.namespace.name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Expand the name of the chart.
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.name" -}}
+{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Create a default fully qualified app name.
+We truncate at 63 chars because some Kubernetes name fields are limited to this (by the DNS naming spec).
+If release name contains chart name it will be used as a full name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.fullname" -}}
+{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
+{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- $name := default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride }}
+{{- if contains $name .Release.Name }}
+{{- .Release.Name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- printf "%s-%s" .Release.Name $name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Create chart name and version as used by the chart label.
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.chart" -}}
+{{- printf "%s-%s" .Chart.Name .Chart.Version | replace "+" "_" | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Common labels
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.labels" -}}
+helm.sh/chart: {{ include "community-operator.chart" . }}
+{{ include "community-operator.selectorLabels" . }}
+{{- if .Chart.AppVersion }}
+app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
+{{- end }}
+app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Selector labels
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.selectorLabels" -}}
+app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ include "community-operator.name" . }}
+app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Create the name of the service account to use
+*/}}
+{{- define "community-operator.serviceAccountName" -}}
+{{- if .Values.serviceAccount.create }}
+{{- default (include "community-operator.fullname" .) .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- default "default" .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/community-operator/templates/database_roles.yaml b/charts/community-operator/templates/database_roles.yaml
index b5662ff6..d91dea08 100644
--- a/charts/community-operator/templates/database_roles.yaml
+++ b/charts/community-operator/templates/database_roles.yaml
@@ -3,14 +3,17 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   name: {{ .Values.database.name }}
-  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ .Release.Namespace }} {{ end }}
-
+  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }} {{ end }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: Role
 metadata:
   name: {{ .Values.database.name }}
-  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ .Release.Namespace }} {{ end }}
+  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }} {{ end }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 rules:
   - apiGroups:
       - ""
@@ -32,7 +35,9 @@ kind: RoleBinding
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 metadata:
   name: {{ .Values.database.name }}
-  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ .Release.Namespace }} {{ end }}
+  namespace: {{ if .Values.database.namespace }} {{ .Values.database.namespace }} {{ else }} {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }} {{ end }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: {{ .Values.database.name }}
diff --git a/charts/community-operator/templates/operator.yaml b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator.yaml
index 15af4014..0b0259ec 100644
--- a/charts/community-operator/templates/operator.yaml
+++ b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator.yaml
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ metadata:
     email: support@mongodb.com
   labels:
     owner: mongodb
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   name: {{ .Values.operator.name }}
-  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  namespace: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
 spec:
   replicas:  {{ .Values.operator.replicas }}
   selector:
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         name: {{ .Values.operator.name }}
+        {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 8 }}
     spec:
       {{- with .Values.imagePullSecrets }}
       imagePullSecrets:
diff --git a/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_namespace.yaml b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..924dbf37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{{- if .Values.operator.namespace.create -}}
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_roles.yaml b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_roles.yaml
index 0f0988b9..8a1dc16f 100644
--- a/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_roles.yaml
+++ b/charts/community-operator/templates/operator_roles.yaml
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   name: {{ .Values.operator.name }}
-  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
-
+  namespace: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: {{ if eq (.Values.operator.watchNamespace | default "") "*" }} ClusterRole {{ else }} Role {{ end }}
@@ -13,8 +14,10 @@ metadata:
   {{- if not (eq (.Values.operator.watchNamespace | default "*") "*") }}
   namespace: {{ .Values.operator.watchNamespace }}
   {{- else }}
-  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  namespace: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
   {{- end }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 rules:
 - apiGroups:
   - ""
@@ -65,12 +68,14 @@ metadata:
   {{- if ne (.Values.operator.watchNamespace | default "*") "*" }}
   namespace: {{ .Values.operator.watchNamespace }}
   {{- else }}
-  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  namespace: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
   {{- end }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "community-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 subjects:
 - kind: ServiceAccount
   name: {{ .Values.operator.name }}
-  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  namespace: {{ include "community-operator.namespace" . }}
 roleRef:
   kind: {{ if eq (.Values.operator.watchNamespace | default "") "*" }} ClusterRole {{ else }} Role {{ end }}
   name: {{ .Values.operator.name }}
diff --git a/charts/community-operator/values.yaml b/charts/community-operator/values.yaml
index b04749bf..487964ed 100644
--- a/charts/community-operator/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/community-operator/values.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ operator:
   # Deployment, ServiceAccount, Role etc.
   name: mongodb-kubernetes-operator
 
+  # Controls the namespace that will be used or created.  This is useful
+  # if the operator is going to be included as a subchart.
+  namespace:
+    # create set to true will cause the namespace to be created
+    create: false
+    # name set to the operator namespace.  This only used if creating the namespace
+    name:
+
   # Name of the operator image
   operatorImageName: mongodb-kubernetes-operator