diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/config/ScmConfiguration.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/config/ScmConfiguration.java
index 3fcea05d23..3cf7f7eddc 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/config/ScmConfiguration.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/config/ScmConfiguration.java
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ public class ScmConfiguration implements Configuration {
   private boolean enabledXsrfProtection = true;
 
   @XmlElement(name = "default-namespace-strategy")
-  private String defaultNamespaceStrategy = "sonia.scm.repository.UsernameNamespaceStrategy";
+  private String defaultNamespaceStrategy = "UsernameNamespaceStrategy";
 
 
   /**
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResource.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResource.java
index 145bc7100e..8368504546 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResource.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResource.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class NamespaceStrategyResource {
   }
 
   private String strategyAsString(NamespaceStrategy namespaceStrategy) {
-    return namespaceStrategy.getClass().getName();
+    return namespaceStrategy.getClass().getSimpleName();
   }
 
   private List<String> collectStrategyNames() {
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java
similarity index 67%
rename from scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java
rename to scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java
index 49aefe71ac..95ae25e6d1 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProvider.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package sonia.scm.repository;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import sonia.scm.config.ScmConfiguration;
 
 import javax.inject.Inject;
@@ -8,6 +10,8 @@ import java.util.Set;
 
 public class NamespaceStrategyProvider implements Provider<NamespaceStrategy> {
 
+  private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(NamespaceStrategyProvider.class);
+
   private final Set<NamespaceStrategy> strategies;
   private final ScmConfiguration scmConfiguration;
 
@@ -22,11 +26,13 @@ public class NamespaceStrategyProvider implements Provider<NamespaceStrategy> {
     String namespaceStrategy = scmConfiguration.getDefaultNamespaceStrategy();
 
     for (NamespaceStrategy s : this.strategies) {
-      if (s.getClass().getCanonicalName().equals(namespaceStrategy)) {
+      if (s.getClass().getSimpleName().equals(namespaceStrategy)) {
           return s;
       }
     }
-    return null;
+
+    LOG.warn("could not find namespace strategy {}, using default strategy", namespaceStrategy);
+    return new UsernameNamespaceStrategy();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/de/plugins.json b/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/de/plugins.json
index 0822be9cdd..adff12414a 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/de/plugins.json
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/de/plugins.json
@@ -143,5 +143,11 @@
       "displayName": "Ungültige Eingabe",
       "description": "Die eingegebenen Daten konnten nicht validiert werden. Bitte korrigieren Sie die Eingaben und senden Sie sie erneut."
     }
+  },
+  "namespaceStrategies": {
+    "sonia.scm.repository.UsernameNamespaceStrategy":  "Benutzername",
+    "sonia.scm.repository.CustomNamespaceStrategy":  "Benutzerdefiniert",
+    "sonia.scm.repository.CurrentYearNamespaceStrategy":  "Aktuelles Jahr",
+    "sonia.scm.repository.RepositoryTypeNamespaceStrategy": "Repository Typ"
   }
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/en/plugins.json b/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/en/plugins.json
index cc9902565b..ac7309a655 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/en/plugins.json
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/resources/locales/en/plugins.json
@@ -143,5 +143,11 @@
       "displayName": "Illegal input",
       "description": "The values could not be validated. Please correct your input and try again."
     }
+  },
+  "namespaceStrategies": {
+    "UsernameNamespaceStrategy":  "Username",
+    "CustomNamespaceStrategy":  "Custom",
+    "CurrentYearNamespaceStrategy":  "Current year",
+    "RepositoryTypeNamespaceStrategy": "Repository type"
   }
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResourceTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResourceTest.java
index a122fd1908..7ab98bb904 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResourceTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/api/v2/resources/NamespaceStrategyResourceTest.java
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ class NamespaceStrategyResourceTest {
     NamespaceStrategyResource resource = new NamespaceStrategyResource(namespaceStrategies, current);
 
     NamespaceStrategiesDto dto = resource.get(uriInfo);
-    assertThat(dto.getCurrent()).isEqualTo(MegaNamespaceStrategy.class.getName());
+    assertThat(dto.getCurrent()).isEqualTo(MegaNamespaceStrategy.class.getSimpleName());
     assertThat(dto.getAvailable()).contains(
-      AwesomeNamespaceStrategy.class.getName(),
-      SuperNamespaceStrategy.class.getName(),
-      MegaNamespaceStrategy.class.getName()
+      AwesomeNamespaceStrategy.class.getSimpleName(),
+      SuperNamespaceStrategy.class.getSimpleName(),
+      MegaNamespaceStrategy.class.getSimpleName()
     );
     assertThat(dto.getLinks().getLinkBy("self").get().getHref()).isEqualTo("/namespace-strategies");
   }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProviderTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProviderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..607775994e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/NamespaceStrategyProviderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package sonia.scm.repository;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import sonia.scm.config.ScmConfiguration;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+class NamespaceStrategyProviderTest {
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldReturnConfiguredStrategy() {
+    Set<NamespaceStrategy> strategies = allStrategiesAsSet();
+
+    ScmConfiguration configuration = new ScmConfiguration();
+    configuration.setDefaultNamespaceStrategy("Arthur");
+
+    NamespaceStrategyProvider provider = new NamespaceStrategyProvider(strategies, configuration);
+    NamespaceStrategy strategy = provider.get();
+
+    assertThat(strategy).isInstanceOf(Arthur.class);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldReturnUsernameStrategyForUnknown() {
+    Set<NamespaceStrategy> strategies = Collections.emptySet();
+
+    ScmConfiguration configuration = new ScmConfiguration();
+    configuration.setDefaultNamespaceStrategy("Arthur");
+
+    NamespaceStrategyProvider provider = new NamespaceStrategyProvider(strategies, configuration);
+    NamespaceStrategy strategy = provider.get();
+
+    assertThat(strategy).isInstanceOf(UsernameNamespaceStrategy.class);
+  }
+
+  private LinkedHashSet<NamespaceStrategy> allStrategiesAsSet() {
+    return new LinkedHashSet<>(Arrays.asList(new Trillian(), new Zaphod(), new Arthur()));
+  }
+
+  private static class Trillian implements NamespaceStrategy{
+
+    @Override
+    public String createNamespace(Repository repository) {
+      return "trillian";
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static class Zaphod implements NamespaceStrategy {
+
+    @Override
+    public String createNamespace(Repository repository) {
+      return "zaphod";
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static class Arthur implements NamespaceStrategy {
+
+    @Override
+    public String createNamespace(Repository repository) {
+      return "arthur";
+    }
+  }
+
+}