diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b40c29..da9bfe8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.6.3] - 2026-05-14
+
+### Added
+- `renderIngress` now automatically renders all Gateway API resources (HTTPRoute, BackendTrafficPolicy, ClientTrafficPolicy, SecurityPolicy) when `global.gatewayAPI.enabled` is true
+- `parentRef.namespace` defaults to `.Release.Namespace` when not explicitly set
+
+### Fixed
+- Nil pointer error when consuming charts don't define `global.gatewayAPI` in their values
+
 ## [1.5.2] - 2026-04-02
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/ci/test-chart/Chart.lock b/ci/test-chart/Chart.lock
index 0b4326b..40351f6 100644
--- a/ci/test-chart/Chart.lock
+++ b/ci/test-chart/Chart.lock
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 dependencies:
 - name: harness-common
   repository: file://../../src/common
-  version: 1.6.1
-digest: sha256:abd81517861f38863732ba6aad2160a5b370816d8e2939c25f17308dfb9bcea6
-generated: "2026-05-13T17:37:34.960645-06:00"
+  version: 1.6.3
+digest: sha256:b5bf10bcf60184437a0b08ff170b4c7d67630c7239571f18af13824a64250253
+generated: "2026-05-14T13:46:18.921158-06:00"
diff --git a/docs/GATEWAYAPI.md b/docs/GATEWAYAPI.md
index 7dd6cd1..eacd9d9 100644
--- a/docs/GATEWAYAPI.md
+++ b/docs/GATEWAYAPI.md
@@ -387,33 +387,26 @@ With custom ingress configuration:
 
 ### Namespace Defaulting
 
-The `parentRef.namespace` defaults to `global.namespace` when not explicitly set:
+The `parentRef.namespace` defaults to the Helm release namespace (`.Release.Namespace`) when not explicitly set:
 
 ```yaml
 global:
-  namespace: harness-helm-new
   gatewayAPI:
     enabled: true
     parentRef:
       name: envoy-gateway
-      # namespace: defaults to global.namespace ("harness-helm-new")
+      # namespace: defaults to .Release.Namespace
 ```
 
 ## Values Reference
 
-### global
-
-| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
-|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
-| `namespace` | string | `""` | Default namespace; used as fallback for `gatewayAPI.parentRef.namespace` |
-
 ### global.gatewayAPI
 
 | Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
 |-----------|------|---------|-------------|
 | `enabled` | bool | `false` | Enable GatewayAPI HTTPRoute generation (requires `global.ingress.enabled`) |
 | `parentRef.name` | string | `""` | Name of the parent Gateway resource |
-| `parentRef.namespace` | string | `""` | Namespace of the parent Gateway resource (defaults to `global.namespace`) |
+| `parentRef.namespace` | string | `""` | Namespace of the parent Gateway resource (defaults to `.Release.Namespace`) |
 | `parentRef.sectionName` | string | `""` | Specific listener name on the Gateway (optional) |
 | `parentRef.port` | int | - | Specific port on the Gateway (optional) |
 
@@ -666,7 +659,7 @@ To add GatewayAPI support to an existing service using nginx-ingress:
        enabled: true  # Add GatewayAPI
        parentRef:
          name: envoy-gateway
-         # namespace defaults to global.namespace
+         # namespace defaults to .Release.Namespace
    ```
 
 2. **No template changes needed** - `renderIngress` automatically generates
diff --git a/src/common/Chart.yaml b/src/common/Chart.yaml
index 47a8158..00e1632 100644
--- a/src/common/Chart.yaml
+++ b/src/common/Chart.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ type: library
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 1.6.1
+version: 1.6.3
 
 
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
diff --git a/src/common/templates/_gateway_clienttrafficpolicy.tpl b/src/common/templates/_gateway_clienttrafficpolicy.tpl
index d8066e4..6d3e448 100644
--- a/src/common/templates/_gateway_clienttrafficpolicy.tpl
+++ b/src/common/templates/_gateway_clienttrafficpolicy.tpl
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ metadata:
     {{- include "harnesscommon.tplvalues.render" ( dict "value" $.Values.global.commonAnnotations "context" $ ) | nindent 4 }}
   {{- end }}
 spec:
-  {{- $parentRefNamespace := $parentRef.namespace | default $.Values.global.namespace }}
+  {{- $parentRefNamespace := $parentRef.namespace | default $.Release.Namespace }}
   targetRefs:
     - group: gateway.networking.k8s.io
       kind: Gateway
diff --git a/src/common/templates/_gateway_httproute.tpl b/src/common/templates/_gateway_httproute.tpl
index 494fca6..bb17533 100644
--- a/src/common/templates/_gateway_httproute.tpl
+++ b/src/common/templates/_gateway_httproute.tpl
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   {{- if $.Values.global.gatewayAPI.parentRef }}
   # Default parentRef from global config
-  {{- $parentRefNamespace := $.Values.global.gatewayAPI.parentRef.namespace | default $.Values.global.namespace }}
+  {{- $parentRefNamespace := $.Values.global.gatewayAPI.parentRef.namespace | default $.Release.Namespace }}
   parentRefs:
     - name: {{ include "harnesscommon.tplvalues.render" ( dict "value" $.Values.global.gatewayAPI.parentRef.name "context" $) }}
       {{- if $parentRefNamespace }}
diff --git a/src/common/templates/_ingress.tpl b/src/common/templates/_ingress.tpl
index e1eac05..70f4c85 100644
--- a/src/common/templates/_ingress.tpl
+++ b/src/common/templates/_ingress.tpl
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ spec:
 ---
 {{- end }}
 {{- end }}
-{{- if .ctx.Values.global.gatewayAPI.enabled }}
+{{- if and (hasKey .ctx.Values.global "gatewayAPI") (dig "gatewayAPI" "enabled" false .ctx.Values.global) }}
 # Gateway API resources (rendered by harnesscommon.v1.renderIngress)
 {{- include "harnesscommon.v2.renderHTTPRoute" . }}
 {{- include "harnesscommon.v2.renderBackendTrafficPolicy" . }}
diff --git a/src/common/values.yaml b/src/common/values.yaml
index 702befd..ac3f5dc 100644
--- a/src/common/values.yaml
+++ b/src/common/values.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 global:
   ha: false
-  # Namespace used as default for gatewayAPI.parentRef.namespace when not explicitly set
-  namespace: ""
   gatewayAPI:
     # Enable GatewayAPI HTTPRoute generation (requires global.ingress.enabled)
     enabled: false