diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 59a4ce6..4d169f2 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/openmcp-project/control-plane-operator v0.1.17
 	github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils v0.23.2
 	github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator/api v0.42.1
-	github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.15.2
-	github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.15.2
+	github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.17.0
+	github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.17.0
 	github.com/openmcp-project/service-provider-landscaper v0.10.0
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index e3c971a..e978e05 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -130,10 +130,10 @@ github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils v0.23.2 h1:69zbDwFE7EYalvV1N0kOddkuF
 github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils v0.23.2/go.mod h1:rycrEcxCREUTV3qu5KNNUcY1mfoQ8U4R5Mz/JG4DFKk=
 github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils/api v0.23.2 h1:llq8xgh42NFcDP+cQYqNVijAdA44iBx9+FTzVitQWyM=
 github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils/api v0.23.2/go.mod h1:OrGanvSCTRofz6vc12RvrKzJqvVgzmvitDdZUVpgpcs=
-github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.15.2 h1:Ujf0NLysUSj0Wiel3qnroDcnnHCXMEpbFd0a9rkZoxY=
-github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.15.2/go.mod h1:0KytEWVi1Gw5SEjyclhNZmUXks+SqbivLW10fDe7vL4=
-github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.15.2 h1:NYT8EVThaS9/7xnLJTbaXd5xg+Dw4drUmOpSRhBfwbw=
-github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.15.2/go.mod h1:iDoSWWIWFewaA14azvjgLLfBEPsIG+U9tI8zK8qB+sI=
+github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.17.0 h1:dhRbaGawtRx6Kd4oUbw5gSBnukEsS0xH29aTRjWIevY=
+github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/api v0.17.0/go.mod h1:xW9QjFThR4xntEyfhgGuJ5oRYY4mzoWOoZBjHjBBjPQ=
+github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.17.0 h1:42yGu/1LoEd51/noWgr7Bmz33rfHjTm/HKKXlJjHif4=
+github.com/openmcp-project/openmcp-operator/lib v0.17.0/go.mod h1:ZUXmfwL8fPe0iTsx+PB5zHWPZavXTkLOYOj2qF1N6hY=
 github.com/openmcp-project/service-provider-landscaper v0.10.0 h1:BfKzMUV3W5TRdFqOGrmpgp/1JiFgnTm+utCyVLaAKjU=
 github.com/openmcp-project/service-provider-landscaper v0.10.0/go.mod h1:H2kTwII4xvl1O+YVW3KA4dzxF3cDFqoLjn0P2SGRpNM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
diff --git a/internal/controller/core/apiserver/controller_test.go b/internal/controller/core/apiserver/controller_test.go
index ea7f8a3..d5a5aa7 100644
--- a/internal/controller/core/apiserver/controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/core/apiserver/controller_test.go
@@ -472,9 +472,8 @@ var _ = Describe("CO-1153 APIServer Controller", func() {
 			Expect(env.Client(testutils.LaaSCoreCluster).Create(env.Ctx, access)).To(Succeed())
 
 			ar.Status.Phase = clustersv1alpha1.REQUEST_GRANTED
-			ar.Status.SecretRef = &commonapi.ObjectReference{
-				Name:      access.Name,
-				Namespace: access.Namespace,
+			ar.Status.SecretRef = &commonapi.LocalObjectReference{
+				Name: access.Name,
 			}
 			Expect(env.Client(testutils.LaaSCoreCluster).Status().Update(env.Ctx, ar)).To(Succeed())
 
diff --git a/internal/controller/core/apiserver/v2.go b/internal/controller/core/apiserver/v2.go
index b5532fe..c5cba8c 100644
--- a/internal/controller/core/apiserver/v2.go
+++ b/internal/controller/core/apiserver/v2.go
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ func v2HandleCreateOrUpdate(ctx context.Context, as *openmcpv1alpha1.APIServer,
 		// fetch the secret containing the kubeconfig
 		secret := &corev1.Secret{}
 		secret.Name = ar.Status.SecretRef.Name
-		secret.Namespace = ar.Status.SecretRef.Namespace
+		secret.Namespace = ar.Namespace
 		if err := platformClient.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(secret), secret); err != nil {
 			rerr := openmcperrors.WithReason(fmt.Errorf("failed to get Secret %s/%s: %w", secret.Namespace, secret.Name, err), clustersconst.ReasonPlatformClusterInteractionProblem)
 			return ctrl.Result{}, usf, clusterConditions(false, rerr.Reason(), rerr.Error(), clusterRequestGrantedCon, clusterReadyCon, accessRequestGrantedCon), rerr