diff --git a/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint.go b/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint.go
index 23bf5af69..d333a4980 100644
--- a/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint.go
+++ b/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint.go
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ func RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint(
 	podsForEviction := make(map[*v1.Pod]struct{})
 	// 1. for each namespace...
 	for _, namespace := range namespaces.Items {
-		if (!includedNamespaces.Has(namespace.Name) || excludedNamespaces.Has(namespace.Name)) && (includedNamespaces.Len()+excludedNamespaces.Len() > 0) {
+		if (len(includedNamespaces) > 0 && !includedNamespaces.Has(namespace.Name)) ||
+			(len(excludedNamespaces) > 0 && excludedNamespaces.Has(namespace.Name)) {
 			continue
 		}
 		namespacePods, err := client.CoreV1().Pods(namespace.Name).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{})
diff --git a/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint_test.go b/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint_test.go
index 93057a230..89db944d6 100644
--- a/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint_test.go
+++ b/pkg/descheduler/strategies/topologyspreadconstraint_test.go
@@ -60,6 +60,41 @@ func TestTopologySpreadConstraint(t *testing.T) {
 			strategy:             api.DeschedulerStrategy{},
 			namespaces:           []string{"ns1"},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "2 domains, sizes [3,1], maxSkew=1, move 1 pod to achieve [2,2], exclude kube-system namespace",
+			nodes: []*v1.Node{
+				test.BuildTestNode("n1", 2000, 3000, 10, func(n *v1.Node) { n.Labels["zone"] = "zoneA" }),
+				test.BuildTestNode("n2", 2000, 3000, 10, func(n *v1.Node) { n.Labels["zone"] = "zoneB" }),
+			},
+			pods: createTestPods([]testPodList{
+				{
+					count:  1,
+					node:   "n1",
+					labels: map[string]string{"foo": "bar"},
+					constraints: []v1.TopologySpreadConstraint{
+						{
+							MaxSkew:           1,
+							TopologyKey:       "zone",
+							WhenUnsatisfiable: v1.DoNotSchedule,
+							LabelSelector:     &metav1.LabelSelector{MatchLabels: map[string]string{"foo": "bar"}},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					count:  2,
+					node:   "n1",
+					labels: map[string]string{"foo": "bar"},
+				},
+				{
+					count:  1,
+					node:   "n2",
+					labels: map[string]string{"foo": "bar"},
+				},
+			}),
+			expectedEvictedCount: 1,
+			strategy:             api.DeschedulerStrategy{Enabled: true, Params: &api.StrategyParameters{Namespaces: &api.Namespaces{Exclude: []string{"kube-system"}}}},
+			namespaces:           []string{"ns1"},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "2 domains, sizes [5,2], maxSkew=1, move 1 pod to achieve [4,3]",
 			nodes: []*v1.Node{