diff --git a/lcpng.c b/lcpng.c
index 7ee4747..c6f1a5f 100644
--- a/lcpng.c
+++ b/lcpng.c
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ lcp_main_t lcp_main;
 u8 *lcp_get_default_ns(void) {
   lcp_main_t *lcpm = &lcp_main;
 
-  if (lcpm->default_namespace[0] == 0)
-    return 0;
+  if (!lcpm->default_namespace || lcpm->default_namespace[0] == 0)
+    return NULL;
   return lcpm->default_namespace;
 }
 
@@ -53,20 +53,20 @@ int lcp_set_default_ns(u8 *ns) {
 
   if (!p || *p == 0)
     {
-    clib_memset(lcpm->default_namespace, 0, sizeof(lcpm->default_namespace));
-    if (lcpm->default_ns_fd > 0)
-      close(lcpm->default_ns_fd);
-    lcpm->default_ns_fd = 0;
-    return 0;
+      lcpm->default_namespace = NULL;
+      if (lcpm->default_ns_fd > 0)
+	close (lcpm->default_ns_fd);
+      lcpm->default_ns_fd = 0;
+      return 0;
     }
 
-    clib_strncpy((char *)lcpm->default_namespace, p, LCP_NS_LEN - 1);
+  vec_validate_init_c_string (lcpm->default_namespace, p,
+			      clib_strnlen (p, LCP_NS_LEN));
+  s = format (0, "/var/run/netns/%s%c", (char *) lcpm->default_namespace, 0);
+  lcpm->default_ns_fd = open ((char *) s, O_RDONLY);
+  vec_free (s);
 
-    s = format(0, "/var/run/netns/%s%c", (char *)lcpm->default_namespace, 0);
-    lcpm->default_ns_fd = open((char *)s, O_RDONLY);
-    vec_free(s);
-
-    return 0;
+  return 0;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/lcpng.h b/lcpng.h
index 04ef382..8917db3 100644
--- a/lcpng.h
+++ b/lcpng.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 typedef struct lcp_main_s
 {
   u16 msg_id_base;		    /* API message ID base */
-  u8 default_namespace[LCP_NS_LEN]; /* default namespace if set */
+  u8 *default_namespace;	    /* default namespace if set */
   int default_ns_fd;
   u8 lcp_auto_subint; /* Automatically create/delete LCP sub-interfaces */
   u8 lcp_sync;	      /* Automatically sync VPP changes to LCP */
diff --git a/lcpng_interface.c b/lcpng_interface.c
index e512d90..46cf917 100644
--- a/lcpng_interface.c
+++ b/lcpng_interface.c
@@ -264,11 +264,7 @@ lcp_itf_pair_add (u32 host_sw_if_index, u32 phy_sw_if_index, u8 *host_name,
   lip->lip_host_name = vec_dup (host_name);
   lip->lip_host_type = host_type;
   lip->lip_vif_index = host_index;
-
-  // TODO(pim) - understand why vec_dup(ns) returns 'nil' here
-  lip->lip_namespace = 0;
-  if (ns && ns[0] != 0)
-    lip->lip_namespace = (u8 *) strdup ((const char *) ns);
+  lip->lip_namespace = vec_dup (ns);
 
   /*
    * First use of this host interface.
@@ -457,8 +453,7 @@ lcp_itf_pair_del (u32 phy_sw_if_index)
   hash_unset (lip_db_by_vif, lip->lip_vif_index);
 
   vec_free (lip->lip_host_name);
-  if (lip->lip_namespace)
-    free (lip->lip_namespace);
+  vec_free (lip->lip_namespace);
   pool_put (lcp_itf_pair_pool, lip);
 
   return 0;