diff --git a/internal/simulate/inputs.go b/internal/simulate/inputs.go
index c4ad401a..ea7ddf8b 100644
--- a/internal/simulate/inputs.go
+++ b/internal/simulate/inputs.go
@@ -90,9 +90,10 @@ func RejectDuplicateNames(comps []*un.Unstructured) error {
 // composite resource or claim, such as package metadata, a Provider or a
 // ConfigMap, which the engine would otherwise fail on with no hint at what -f
 // accepts. It also gives a claim or namespaced composite resource with no
-// namespace the kubeconfig context namespace ns, as kubectl apply would. The
-// definition client caches the XRDs when it initializes, so the check costs
-// no extra calls.
+// namespace the kubeconfig context namespace ns, as kubectl apply would, and
+// clears any namespace on a cluster-scoped composite resource, which kubectl
+// apply ignores there. The definition client caches the XRDs when it
+// initializes, so the check costs no extra calls.
 func checkComposites(ctx context.Context, defs xpclient.DefinitionClient, ns string, resources []*un.Unstructured) error {
 	for _, r := range resources {
 		gvk := r.GroupVersionKind()
@@ -104,6 +105,8 @@ func checkComposites(ctx context.Context, defs xpclient.DefinitionClient, ns str
 			// Only a Namespaced scope is namespaced; Cluster and LegacyCluster are not.
 			if scope, _, _ := un.NestedString(xrd.Object, "spec", "scope"); scope == "Namespaced" {
 				defaultNamespace(r, ns)
+			} else {
+				r.SetNamespace("")
 			}
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/internal/simulate/inputs_test.go b/internal/simulate/inputs_test.go
index 71e05bb4..97203130 100644
--- a/internal/simulate/inputs_test.go
+++ b/internal/simulate/inputs_test.go
@@ -316,7 +316,9 @@ func TestCheckCompositesNamespace(t *testing.T) {
 		"NamespacedXRWithoutNamespace": {kind: "XNamespaced", want: "ctx-ns"},
 		"NamespacedXRWithNamespace":    {kind: "XNamespaced", namespace: "mine", want: "mine"},
 		"ClusterXR":                    {kind: "XCluster", want: ""},
+		"ClusterXRWithNamespace":       {kind: "XCluster", namespace: "mine", want: ""},
 		"LegacyClusterXR":              {kind: "XLegacy", want: ""},
+		"LegacyClusterXRWithNamespace": {kind: "XLegacy", namespace: "mine", want: ""},
 		"ClaimWithoutNamespace":        {kind: "Claim", want: "ctx-ns"},
 		"ClaimWithNamespace":           {kind: "Claim", namespace: "mine", want: "mine"},
 	}