Operator fails to create service for operator metrics

ERROR   metrics metrics/metrics.go:54   failed to create service for operator metrics   {"error": "an empty namespace may not be set during creation"}
github.com/maistra/istio-operator/vendor/github.com/go-logr/zapr.(*zapLogger).Error
        /builddir/build/BUILD/OPERATOR/src/github.com/maistra/istio-operator/vendor/github.com/go-logr/zapr/zapr.go:128
github.com/maistra/istio-operator/vendor/github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pkg/metrics.ExposeMetricsPort
        /builddir/build/BUILD/OPERATOR/src/github.com/maistra/istio-operator/vendor/github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/pkg/metrics/metrics.go:54
main.main
        /builddir/build/BUILD/OPERATOR/src/github.com/maistra/istio-operator/cmd/manager/main.go:107
runtime.main
        /usr/lib/golang/src/runtime/proc.go:198