diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e7935e..643600f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -257,6 +257,9 @@ namespace-selectors:
   #
   # Will exclude the default, kube-system, and kube-public namespaces
   exclude: []
+
+  # If true then namespaces containing 0 pods will be omitted from the report sent to Anchore Enterprise
+  ignore-empty: false
 ```
 
 ### Kubernetes API Parameters
diff --git a/anchore-k8s-inventory.yaml b/anchore-k8s-inventory.yaml
index 22e527e..baef7a8 100644
--- a/anchore-k8s-inventory.yaml
+++ b/anchore-k8s-inventory.yaml
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ namespace-selectors:
   # Will exclude the default, kube-system, and kube-public namespaces
   exclude: []
 
+  ignore-empty: false
+
 # Kubernetes API configuration parameters (should not need tuning)
 kubernetes:
   # Sets the request timeout for kubernetes API requests
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 4bf1c88..cc0dc32 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ type MissingTagConf struct {
 
 // NamespaceSelector details the inclusion/exclusion rules for namespaces
 type NamespaceSelector struct {
-	Include []string `mapstructure:"include"`
-	Exclude []string `mapstructure:"exclude"`
+	Include     []string `mapstructure:"include"`
+	Exclude     []string `mapstructure:"exclude"`
+	IgnoreEmpty bool     `mapstructure:"ignore-empty"`
 }
 
 // KubernetesAPI details the configuration for interacting with the k8s api server
@@ -128,6 +129,7 @@ func setNonCliDefaultValues(v *viper.Viper) {
 	v.SetDefault("namespaces", []string{})
 	v.SetDefault("namespace-selectors.include", []string{})
 	v.SetDefault("namespace-selectors.exclude", []string{})
+	v.SetDefault("namespace-selectors.ignore-empty", false)
 }
 
 // Load the Application Configuration from the Viper specifications
diff --git a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestDefaultConfigString.golden b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestDefaultConfigString.golden
index 5c3fecb..b33a22e 100644
--- a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestDefaultConfigString.golden
+++ b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestDefaultConfigString.golden
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ kubernetesrequesttimeoutseconds: -1
 namespaceselectors:
   include: []
   exclude: []
+  ignoreempty: false
 missingtagpolicy:
   policy: digest
   tag: UNKNOWN
diff --git a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestEmptyConfigString.golden b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestEmptyConfigString.golden
index 7ee1586..5f22d47 100644
--- a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestEmptyConfigString.golden
+++ b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestEmptyConfigString.golden
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ kubernetesrequesttimeoutseconds: 0
 namespaceselectors:
   include: []
   exclude: []
+  ignoreempty: false
 missingtagpolicy:
   policy: ""
   tag: ""
diff --git a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSensitiveConfigString.golden b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSensitiveConfigString.golden
index 7c3b5f2..09a6260 100644
--- a/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSensitiveConfigString.golden
+++ b/internal/config/test-fixtures/snapshot/TestSensitiveConfigString.golden
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ kubernetesrequesttimeoutseconds: -1
 namespaceselectors:
   include: []
   exclude: []
+  ignoreempty: false
 missingtagpolicy:
   policy: digest
   tag: UNKNOWN
diff --git a/pkg/lib.go b/pkg/lib.go
index 901701e..db753a9 100644
--- a/pkg/lib.go
+++ b/pkg/lib.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type ReportItem struct {
+	Namespace  inventory.Namespace
 	Pods       []inventory.Pod
 	Containers []inventory.Container
 }
@@ -169,10 +170,16 @@ func GetInventoryReport(cfg *config.Application) (inventory.Report, error) {
 	results := make([]ReportItem, 0)
 	pods := make([]inventory.Pod, 0)
 	containers := make([]inventory.Container, 0)
+	processedNamespaces := make([]inventory.Namespace, 0)
 	for len(results) < len(namespaces) {
 		select {
 		case item := <-ch.reportItem:
 			results = append(results, item)
+			if cfg.NamespaceSelectors.IgnoreEmpty && len(item.Pods) == 0 {
+				log.Debugf("Ignoring namespace \"%s\" as it has no pods", item.Namespace.Name)
+				continue
+			}
+			processedNamespaces = append(processedNamespaces, item.Namespace)
 			pods = append(pods, item.Pods...)
 			containers = append(containers, item.Containers...)
 		case err := <-ch.errors:
@@ -196,12 +203,12 @@ func GetInventoryReport(cfg *config.Application) (inventory.Report, error) {
 		nodes = append(nodes, node)
 	}
 
-	log.Infof("Got Inventory Report with %d containers running across %d namespaces", len(containers), len(namespaces))
+	log.Infof("Got Inventory Report with %d containers running across %d namespaces", len(containers), len(processedNamespaces))
 	return inventory.Report{
 		Timestamp:             time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339),
 		Containers:            containers,
 		Pods:                  pods,
-		Namespaces:            namespaces,
+		Namespaces:            processedNamespaces,
 		Nodes:                 nodes,
 		ServerVersionMetadata: serverVersion,
 		ClusterName:           cfg.KubeConfig.Cluster,
@@ -226,6 +233,14 @@ func processNamespace(
 		return
 	}
 
+	if len(v1pods) == 0 {
+		log.Infof("No pods found in namespace \"%s\"", ns.Name)
+		ch.reportItem <- ReportItem{
+			Namespace: ns,
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
 	pods := inventory.ProcessPods(v1pods, ns.UID, nodes)
 	containers := inventory.GetContainersFromPods(
 		v1pods,
@@ -235,6 +250,7 @@ func processNamespace(
 	)
 
 	reportItem := ReportItem{
+		Namespace:  ns,
 		Pods:       pods,
 		Containers: containers,
 	}