diff --git a/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
index 00463fa7..67f357fc 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
@@ -102,6 +102,20 @@ func getHAEnvs() (string, string) {
 	return podName, podNamespace
 }
 
+// namespaceWatchScopeMessage returns the startup log message describing the
+// namespace scope Reloader will watch when KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset
+// (global mode). It reflects --namespaces-to-ignore so the log is not
+// misleading when namespace filtering is configured.
+func namespaceWatchScopeMessage(ignoredNamespaces []string) string {
+	if len(ignoredNamespaces) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Sprintf(
+			"KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces except: %s.",
+			strings.Join(ignoredNamespaces, ", "),
+		)
+	}
+	return "KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces."
+}
+
 func startReloader(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	common.GetCommandLineOptions()
 	err := configureLogging(options.LogFormat, options.LogLevel)
@@ -115,7 +129,6 @@ func startReloader(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	if len(currentNamespace) == 0 {
 		currentNamespace = v1.NamespaceAll
 		isGlobal = true
-		logrus.Warnf("KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces.")
 	}
 
 	// create the clientset
@@ -130,6 +143,9 @@ func startReloader(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}
 
 	ignoredNamespacesList := options.NamespacesToIgnore
+	if isGlobal {
+		logrus.Warn(namespaceWatchScopeMessage(ignoredNamespacesList))
+	}
 	namespaceLabelSelector := ""
 
 	if isGlobal {
diff --git a/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader_test.go b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a5a68e9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package cmd
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestNamespaceWatchScopeMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name              string
+		ignoredNamespaces []string
+		want              string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:              "no ignored namespaces - all namespaces",
+			ignoredNamespaces: nil,
+			want:              "KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces.",
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "empty ignored namespaces - all namespaces",
+			ignoredNamespaces: []string{},
+			want:              "KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces.",
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "single ignored namespace",
+			ignoredNamespaces: []string{"kube-system"},
+			want:              "KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces except: kube-system.",
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "multiple ignored namespaces",
+			ignoredNamespaces: []string{"kube-system", "kube-public"},
+			want:              "KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE is unset, will detect changes in all namespaces except: kube-system, kube-public.",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := namespaceWatchScopeMessage(tt.ignoredNamespaces); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("namespaceWatchScopeMessage(%v) = %q, want %q", tt.ignoredNamespaces, got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}