diff --git a/internal/controllers/projectpurge/purge.go b/internal/controllers/projectpurge/purge.go
index 9ceee383..c5664e65 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/projectpurge/purge.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/projectpurge/purge.go
@@ -194,8 +194,8 @@ func (p *Purger) Purge(ctx context.Context, cfg *rest.Config, project string, o
 			_ = core.CoreV1().Namespaces().Delete(ctx, ns, delOpts)
 		}
 
-		// Clear finalizers to allow immediate removal without a namespace controller
-		nso.Spec.Finalizers = nil
+		// Clear metadata finalizers to allow immediate removal without a namespace controller
+		nso.ObjectMeta.Finalizers = nil
 		if _, err := core.CoreV1().Namespaces().Finalize(ctx, nso, metav1.UpdateOptions{}); !ignorable(err) {
 			if apierrors.IsForbidden(err) || apierrors.IsUnauthorized(err) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("rbac forbids namespaces/finalize on %q: %w", ns, err)