diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion.go b/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion.go
index 40f709101..0a99a1085 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion.go
@@ -399,6 +399,12 @@ func (dst *VirtualMachineImage) ConvertFrom(srcRaw conversion.Hub) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if dst.Spec.ProviderRef.Name != "" {
+		// The Namespace isn't a field in the v1a2 LocalObjectRef so backfill the namespace here.
+		// The provider is always in the same namespace.
+		dst.Spec.ProviderRef.Namespace = src.Namespace
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion_test.go b/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3406dd11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/virtualmachineimage_conversion_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2023 VMware, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package v1alpha1_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+
+	"github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha1"
+	nextver "github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha2"
+	nextver_common "github.com/vmware-tanzu/vm-operator/api/v1alpha2/common"
+)
+
+func TestVirtualMachineImageConversion(t *testing.T) {
+	g := NewWithT(t)
+
+	t.Run("VirtualMachineImage hub-spoke-hub", func(t *testing.T) {
+		hub := &nextver.VirtualMachineImage{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      "test-image",
+				Namespace: "my-namespace",
+			},
+			Spec: nextver.VirtualMachineImageSpec{
+				ProviderRef: nextver_common.LocalObjectRef{
+					APIVersion: "vmware.com/v1",
+					Kind:       "ImageProvider",
+					Name:       "my-image",
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		spoke := &v1alpha1.VirtualMachineImage{}
+		g.Expect(spoke.ConvertFrom(hub)).To(Succeed())
+
+		g.Expect(spoke.Spec.ProviderRef.APIVersion).To(Equal("vmware.com/v1"))
+		g.Expect(spoke.Spec.ProviderRef.Kind).To(Equal("ImageProvider"))
+		g.Expect(spoke.Spec.ProviderRef.Name).To(Equal("my-image"))
+		g.Expect(spoke.Spec.ProviderRef.Namespace).To(Equal("my-namespace"))
+	})
+}
diff --git a/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/contentlibraryitem/contentlibraryitem_controller.go b/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/contentlibraryitem/contentlibraryitem_controller.go
index 9f7574cb3..139b31d67 100644
--- a/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/contentlibraryitem/contentlibraryitem_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/contentlibraryitem/contentlibraryitem_controller.go
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) setUpVMIFromCLItem(ctx *context.ContentLibraryItemContext)
 		APIVersion: clItem.APIVersion,
 		Kind:       clItem.Kind,
 		Name:       clItem.Name,
+		Namespace:  clItem.Namespace,
 	}
 	vmi.Status.ImageName = clItem.Status.Name
 	if clItem.Status.ContentLibraryRef != nil {
diff --git a/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/utils/test_utils.go b/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/utils/test_utils.go
index ddec96575..d57ab5152 100644
--- a/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/utils/test_utils.go
+++ b/controllers/contentlibrary/v1alpha1/utils/test_utils.go
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ func GetExpectedVMIFrom(clItem imgregv1a1.ContentLibraryItem,
 				APIVersion: clItem.APIVersion,
 				Kind:       clItem.Kind,
 				Name:       clItem.Name,
+				Namespace:  clItem.Namespace,
 			},
 		},
 		Status: vmopv1.VirtualMachineImageStatus{