diff --git a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 7d4d39da..e5354470 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -65,9 +65,9 @@ Create the name of the service account to use
 */}}
 {{- define "operator.serviceAccountName" -}}
 {{- if .Values.serviceAccount.create }}
-{{- default (include "operator.fullname" .) .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- default (printf "%s-serviceaccount" (include "operator.fullname" .)) .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
 {{- else }}
-{{- default "default" .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- required "serviceAccount.name is required when serviceAccount.create is false, because the chart then does not create a ServiceAccount for the operator to run as." .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
 {{- end }}
 {{- end }}
 
diff --git a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/deployment.yaml b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
index 06dde967..86be9ad2 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ spec:
       imagePullSecrets:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
       {{- end }}
-      serviceAccountName: {{ include "operator.fullname" . }}-serviceaccount
+      serviceAccountName: {{ include "operator.serviceAccountName" . }}
       securityContext:
         {{- toYaml .Values.podSecurityContext | nindent 8 }}
       containers:
diff --git a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/serviceaccount.yaml b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/serviceaccount.yaml
index 8ba0d58c..10633e5f 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/serviceaccount.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/hive-operator/templates/serviceaccount.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
-  name: {{ include "operator.fullname" . }}-serviceaccount
+  name: {{ include "operator.serviceAccountName" . }}
   labels:
     {{- include "operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
   {{- with .Values.serviceAccount.annotations }}
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ metadata:
     {{- include "operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 subjects:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
-    name: {{ include "operator.fullname" . }}-serviceaccount
+    name: {{ include "operator.serviceAccountName" . }}
     namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
 roleRef:
   kind: ClusterRole