diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index e70267f0..67987760 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 common --enable_bzlmod
 build --nolegacy_external_runfiles
+build --remote_download_all
 build --verbose_failures
 build --@io_bazel_rules_go//go/config:pure
 test --test_output=errors
diff --git a/e2e/.bazelrc b/e2e/.bazelrc
index b3c80a5a..b580950f 100644
--- a/e2e/.bazelrc
+++ b/e2e/.bazelrc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 build --action_env HOME --test_env HOME
 common:bzlmod --enable_bzlmod
+build --remote_download_all
 build --nolegacy_external_runfiles
 build --@io_bazel_rules_go//go/config:pure
diff --git a/skylib/k8s_test_namespace.sh.tpl b/skylib/k8s_test_namespace.sh.tpl
index 378d1ab7..9c704446 100644
--- a/skylib/k8s_test_namespace.sh.tpl
+++ b/skylib/k8s_test_namespace.sh.tpl
@@ -46,21 +46,22 @@ echo "Cluster: ${CLUSTER}" >&2
 echo "User: ${USER}" >&2
 
 set +e
+
+ns_cleanup() {
+    echo "Performing namespace ${NAMESPACE} cleanup..."
+    ${KUBECTL} --kubeconfig=${KUBECONFIG} --cluster=${CLUSTER} --user=${USER} delete namespace --wait=false ${NAMESPACE}
+}
+
 if [ -n "${K8S_TEST_NAMESPACE:-}" ]
 then
     # use provided namespace
     NAMESPACE=${K8S_TEST_NAMESPACE}
-    # do not delete namespace after the test is complete
-    DELETE_NAMESPACE_FLAG=""
 elif [ -n "${K8S_MYNAMESPACE:-}" ]
 then
     # do not create random namesspace
     NAMESPACE=$(whoami)
-    # do not delete namespace after the test is complete
-    DELETE_NAMESPACE_FLAG=""
 else
     # create random namespace
-    DELETE_NAMESPACE_FLAG="-delete_namespace"
     COUNT="0"
     while true; do
         NAMESPACE=`whoami`-$(( (RANDOM) + 32767 ))
@@ -71,6 +72,8 @@ else
             exit 1
         fi
     done
+    # delete namespace after the test is complete or failed
+    trap ns_cleanup EXIT
 fi
 echo "Namespace: ${NAMESPACE}" >&2
 set -e
@@ -110,4 +113,4 @@ function waitpids() {
 # create k8s objects
 %{statements}
 
-%{it_sidecar} -namespace=${NAMESPACE} %{sidecar_args} ${DELETE_NAMESPACE_FLAG} "$@"
+%{it_sidecar} -namespace=${NAMESPACE} %{sidecar_args} "$@"
diff --git a/testing/it_sidecar/it_sidecar.go b/testing/it_sidecar/it_sidecar.go
index 3ffb7e07..43904496 100644
--- a/testing/it_sidecar/it_sidecar.go
+++ b/testing/it_sidecar/it_sidecar.go
@@ -66,14 +66,13 @@ func (i *arrayFlags) Set(value string) error {
 }
 
 var (
-	namespace       = flag.String("namespace", os.Getenv("NAMESPACE"), "kubernetes namespace")
-	timeout         = flag.Duration("timeout", time.Second*30, "execution timeout")
-	deleteNamespace = flag.Bool("delete_namespace", false, "delete namespace as part of the cleanup")
-	pfconfig        = portForwardConf{services: make(map[string][]uint16)}
-	kubeconfig      string
-	waitForApps     arrayFlags
-	allowErrors     bool
-	disablePodLogs  bool
+	namespace      = flag.String("namespace", os.Getenv("NAMESPACE"), "kubernetes namespace")
+	timeout        = flag.Duration("timeout", time.Second*30, "execution timeout")
+	pfconfig       = portForwardConf{services: make(map[string][]uint16)}
+	kubeconfig     string
+	waitForApps    arrayFlags
+	allowErrors    bool
+	disablePodLogs bool
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -329,17 +328,6 @@ func portForward(ctx context.Context, clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, config *r
 	return nil
 }
 
-func cleanup(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset) {
-	log.Print("Cleanup")
-	if *deleteNamespace && *namespace != "" {
-		log.Printf("deleting namespace %s", *namespace)
-		s := meta_v1.DeletePropagationBackground
-		if err := clientset.CoreV1().Namespaces().Delete(context.Background(), *namespace, meta_v1.DeleteOptions{PropagationPolicy: &s}); err != nil {
-			log.Printf("Unable to delete namespace %s: %v", *namespace, err)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 var ErrTimedOut = errors.New("timed out")
 var ErrStdinClosed = errors.New("stdin closed")
 var ErrTermSignalReceived = errors.New("TERM signal received")
@@ -382,7 +370,6 @@ func main() {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	clientset = kubernetes.NewForConfigOrDie(config)
-	defer cleanup(clientset)
 
 	go func() {
 		err := stern.Run(ctx, *namespace, clientset, allowErrors, disablePodLogs)