diff --git a/controllers/serviceexport/reconciler.go b/controllers/serviceexport/reconciler.go
index c4d17a331..563bb7746 100644
--- a/controllers/serviceexport/reconciler.go
+++ b/controllers/serviceexport/reconciler.go
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func isValidNameSpace(ns string, slice *kubeslicev1beta1.Slice) bool {
 	if ns == fmt.Sprintf(sliceController.VPC_NS_FMT, slice.Name) {
 		return true
 	}
-	return arrayContainsString(slice.Status.ApplicationNamespaces, ns)
+	return arrayContainsString(slice.Status.SliceConfig.NamespaceIsolationProfile.ApplicationNamespaces, ns)
 }
 
 // Setup ServiceExport Reconciler
diff --git a/controllers/slicegateway/utils.go b/controllers/slicegateway/utils.go
index 7e32a9ecb..99cf6334c 100644
--- a/controllers/slicegateway/utils.go
+++ b/controllers/slicegateway/utils.go
@@ -357,6 +357,9 @@ func GetPodForGwDeployment(ctx context.Context, c client.Client, depName string)
 	if err := c.List(ctx, &podList, listOpts...); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if len(podList.Items) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("No pods found with matching labels")
+	}
 
 	return &podList.Items[0], nil
 }