diff --git a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
index 8ace4a3a0a..1da9973271 100644
--- a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
+++ b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/AbstractOperatorExtension.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.KubernetesResourceList;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.NamespaceBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClientBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.NonNamespaceOperation;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.Resource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.utils.KubernetesResourceUtil;
@@ -51,7 +52,9 @@ protected AbstractOperatorExtension(
       boolean preserveNamespaceOnError,
       boolean waitForNamespaceDeletion,
       KubernetesClient kubernetesClient) {
-    this.kubernetesClient = kubernetesClient;
+    this.kubernetesClient = kubernetesClient != null ? kubernetesClient
+        : new KubernetesClientBuilder()
+            .withConfig(configurationService.getClientConfiguration()).build();
     this.configurationService = configurationService;
     this.infrastructure = infrastructure;
     this.infrastructureTimeout = infrastructureTimeout;
diff --git a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension.java b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension.java
index 0b8aa401a4..1cda69dc01 100644
--- a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension.java
+++ b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.rbac.ClusterRoleBinding;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClientBuilder;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.api.config.ConfigurationService;
 
 public class ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension extends AbstractOperatorExtension {
@@ -155,7 +154,7 @@ public ClusterDeployedOperatorExtension build() {
           preserveNamespaceOnError,
           waitForNamespaceDeletion,
           oneNamespacePerClass,
-          kubernetesClient != null ? kubernetesClient : new KubernetesClientBuilder().build());
+          kubernetesClient);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/LocallyRunOperatorExtension.java b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/LocallyRunOperatorExtension.java
index 6c4a4bc5ab..57201e5146 100644
--- a/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/LocallyRunOperatorExtension.java
+++ b/operator-framework-junit5/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/junit/LocallyRunOperatorExtension.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClientBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.LocalPortForward;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.Operator;
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.ReconcilerUtils;
@@ -270,7 +269,7 @@ public LocallyRunOperatorExtension build() {
           preserveNamespaceOnError,
           waitForNamespaceDeletion,
           oneNamespacePerClass,
-          kubernetesClient != null ? kubernetesClient : new KubernetesClientBuilder().build());
+          kubernetesClient);
     }
   }