diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2442de7..18b9832 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -62,8 +62,10 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         kubectl -n namespace-provisioner port-forward service/namespace-provisioner 8080 &
         until lsof -nP -iTCP:8080 -sTCP:LISTEN >/dev/null; do sleep 1; done
-        curl localhost:8080/api/v1/namespace -X POST -H "Authorization: bearer PASSWORD" > kubeconfig
+        curl localhost:8080/api/v1/namespace?ttl=1s -X POST -H "Authorization: bearer PASSWORD" > kubeconfig
         kubectl --kubeconfig kubeconfig get pods
+        sleep 1
+        [ $(kubectl get ns | grep np- | wc -l) -eq 0 ]
     - name: Debug failure
       if: failure()
       run: |
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 13e9dc4..968ae8c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ The Namespace Provisioner runs an API server over HTTP that exposes two API endp
 
 #### Namespace Creation - POST /api/v1/namespace
 
-The Namespace creation endpoint accepts the following parameters:
-1. ttl: the time in seconds that the Namespace should exist in the Kubernetes cluster; if 0 is given, then the Namespace Provisioner’s default lifetime is applied.
+The Namespace creation endpoint accepts the following optional query parameters:
+1. `ttl`: the time in seconds that the Namespace should exist in the Kubernetes cluster; if 0 is given, then the Namespace Provisioner’s default lifetime is applied.
 All provisioned Namespaces will be labeled with a Unix timestamp equal to the current time plus this duration; and
-1. Optional: Kubernetes API URL; the endpoint of the Kubernetes API that the generated Kubeconfig should use.
+1. `url`; the URL of the Kubernetes API that the generated Kubeconfig should use.
 
 The Namespace creation endpoint responds with the following data:
 1. A Kubeconfig with scoped privileges for the provisioned Namespace using the provided RBAC Role and the Kubernetes API URL provided in the creation request.
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index d6675a4..455c7c9 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -95,6 +96,19 @@ func (h *handler) create(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		h.duration.WithLabelValues("create").Observe(time.Since(start).Seconds())
 	}(start)
 
+	ttl := h.ttl
+	if r.URL.Query().Has("ttl") {
+		s, err := strconv.Atoi(r.URL.Query().Get("ttl"))
+		if err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)
+			return
+		}
+		ttl = time.Duration(s) * time.Second
+		if ttl == 0 || (h.ttl > 0 && ttl > h.ttl) {
+			ttl = h.ttl
+		}
+	}
+
 	namespace := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", h.prefix, uuid.Must(uuid.NewUUID()).String())
 	ns := &v1.Namespace{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -107,17 +121,19 @@ func (h *handler) create(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Schedule asynchronous deletion of the namespace.
-	go func() {
-		<-time.After(h.ttl)
-		dpf := metav1.DeletePropagationForeground
-		if err := h.c.CoreV1().Namespaces().Delete(r.Context(), namespace, metav1.DeleteOptions{PropagationPolicy: &dpf}); err != nil {
-			if errors.IsNotFound(err) {
-				return
+	if ttl != 0 {
+		// Schedule asynchronous deletion of the namespace.
+		go func() {
+			<-time.After(ttl)
+			dpf := metav1.DeletePropagationForeground
+			if err := h.c.CoreV1().Namespaces().Delete(r.Context(), namespace, metav1.DeleteOptions{PropagationPolicy: &dpf}); err != nil {
+				if errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+					return
+				}
+				level.Error(h.logger).Log("msg", "failed to clean up namespace", "err", err)
 			}
-			level.Error(h.logger).Log("msg", "failed to clean up namespace", "err", err)
-		}
-	}()
+		}()
+	}
 
 	sa := &v1.ServiceAccount{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{