diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b6f92c8f8a4fa4fb7b09b15f6058cdec2996cf37..d7e2e8f79cd70b7b5482a97be535469c1f25a7f1 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ include:
 .delete_helmrelease: &delete_helmrelease
   - cd ${CHART_DIR:-"."}
   - ./fully-delete-helmrelease.sh "nc$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" "nc$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID"
-  - kubectl delete namespace "nc$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID"
+  # namespace removal fails if the namespace does not exist (yet), that's not a problem
+  - kubectl delete namespace "nc$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID" || true
 
 stages:
   - lint-helm-chart