diff --git a/api/v1alpha2/hnc_config.go b/api/v1alpha2/hnc_config.go
index 61db0915f..a6de2ec9c 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha2/hnc_config.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha2/hnc_config.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ const (
 	// Condition reasons for BadConfiguration
 	ReasonMultipleConfigsForType = "MultipleConfigurationsForType"
 	ReasonResourceNotFound       = "ResourceNotFound"
+	ReasonResourceNotNamespaced  = "ResourceNotNamespaced"
 
 	// Condition reason for OutOfSync, e.g. errors when creating a reconciler.
 	ReasonUnknown = "Unknown"
diff --git a/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config.go b/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config.go
index a9754378a..a3e1b8725 100644
--- a/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config.go
+++ b/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config.go
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ type gr2gvkMode map[schema.GroupResource]gvkMode
 // gvk2gr keeps track of a group of unique GVKs with the mapping GRs.
 type gvk2gr map[schema.GroupVersionKind]schema.GroupResource
 
+type GVKErr struct {
+	Reason string
+	Msg    string
+}
+
+func (e *GVKErr) Error() string {
+	return e.Msg
+}
+
 // checkPeriod is the period that the config reconciler checks if it needs to reconcile the
 // `config` singleton.
 const checkPeriod = 3 * time.Second
@@ -188,10 +197,12 @@ func (r *ConfigReconciler) reconcileConfigTypes(inst *api.HNCConfiguration, allR
 		// Look if the resource exists in the API server.
 		gvk, err := GVKFor(gr, allRes)
 		if err != nil {
-			// If the type is not found, log error and write conditions but don't
+			// If the type is not found or namespaced, log error and write conditions but don't
 			// early exit since the other types can still be reconciled.
 			r.Log.Error(err, "while trying to reconcile the configuration", "type", gr, "mode", rsc.Mode)
-			r.writeCondition(inst, api.ConditionBadTypeConfiguration, api.ReasonResourceNotFound, err.Error())
+			if gvkerr, ok := err.(*GVKErr); ok {
+				r.writeCondition(inst, api.ConditionBadTypeConfiguration, gvkerr.Reason, gvkerr.Msg)
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 		r.activeGVKMode[gr] = gvkMode{gvk, rsc.Mode}
@@ -599,6 +610,9 @@ func GVKFor(gr schema.GroupResource, allRes []*restmapper.APIGroupResources) (sc
 		for _, version := range group.Versions {
 			for _, resource := range groupedResources.VersionedResources[version.Version] {
 				if resource.Name == gr.Resource {
+					if !resource.Namespaced {
+						return schema.GroupVersionKind{}, &GVKErr{api.ReasonResourceNotNamespaced, fmt.Sprintf("Resource %q is not namespaced", gr)}
+					}
 					// Please note that we cannot use resource.group or resource.version
 					// here because they are preferred group/version and they are default
 					// to empty to imply this current containing group/version. Therefore,
@@ -613,5 +627,5 @@ func GVKFor(gr schema.GroupResource, allRes []*restmapper.APIGroupResources) (sc
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return schema.GroupVersionKind{}, fmt.Errorf("Resource %q not found", gr)
+	return schema.GroupVersionKind{}, &GVKErr{api.ReasonResourceNotFound, fmt.Sprintf("Resource %q not found", gr)}
 }
diff --git a/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config_test.go b/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config_test.go
index 5dea6fdf3..ef7144ca5 100644
--- a/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config_test.go
+++ b/internal/reconcilers/hnc_config_test.go
@@ -287,6 +287,14 @@ var _ = Describe("HNCConfiguration", func() {
 		Expect(objectInheritedFrom(ctx, "crontabs", barName, "foo-crontab")).Should(Equal(fooName))
 	})
 
+	It("manager should not panic and ignore wrong Clusterscoped type setting in HNCConfiguration", func() {
+		// Add a config for a type that hasn't been defined yet.
+		addToHNCConfig(ctx, api.RBACGroup, "clusterroles", api.Propagate)
+
+		Eventually(getHNCConfigCondition(ctx, api.ConditionBadTypeConfiguration, api.ReasonResourceNotNamespaced)).
+			Should(ContainSubstring("Resource \"clusterroles.rbac.authorization.k8s.io\" is not namespaced"))
+	})
+
 	It("should set NumPropagatedObjects back to 0 after deleting the source object in propagate mode", func() {
 		addToHNCConfig(ctx, "", "limitranges", api.Propagate)
 		setParent(ctx, barName, fooName)