diff --git a/cmd/cli/util.go b/cmd/cli/util.go
index ffd9df814e..e562846be5 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/util.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/util.go
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ import (
 
 	mapset "github.com/deckarep/golang-set"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-	v1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
@@ -113,25 +114,18 @@ func getMeshInfoList(restConfig *rest.Config, clientSet kubernetes.Interface) ([
 	return meshInfoList, nil
 }
 
-// getNamespacePods returns a map of controller pods
-func getNamespacePods(clientSet kubernetes.Interface, m string, ns string) map[string][]string {
-	x := make(map[string][]string)
-
+// GetOSMControllerPods returns a list of osm-controller pods in the namespace
+func GetOSMControllerPods(clientSet kubernetes.Interface, ns string) *corev1.PodList {
 	labelSelector := metav1.LabelSelector{MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": constants.OSMControllerName}}
 	listOptions := metav1.ListOptions{
 		LabelSelector: labels.Set(labelSelector.MatchLabels).String(),
 	}
-	pods, _ := clientSet.CoreV1().Pods(ns).List(context.TODO(), listOptions)
-
-	for pno := 0; pno < len(pods.Items); pno++ {
-		x["Pods"] = append(x["Pods"], pods.Items[pno].GetName())
-	}
-
-	return x
+	podList, _ := clientSet.CoreV1().Pods(ns).List(context.TODO(), listOptions)
+	return podList
 }
 
 // getControllerDeployments returns a list of Deployments corresponding to osm-controller
-func getControllerDeployments(clientSet kubernetes.Interface) (*v1.DeploymentList, error) {
+func getControllerDeployments(clientSet kubernetes.Interface) (*appsv1.DeploymentList, error) {
 	deploymentsClient := clientSet.AppsV1().Deployments("") // Get deployments from all namespaces
 	labelSelector := metav1.LabelSelector{MatchLabels: map[string]string{"app": constants.OSMControllerName}}
 	listOptions := metav1.ListOptions{
@@ -176,11 +170,13 @@ func getSupportedSmiInfoForMeshList(meshInfoList []meshInfo, clientSet kubernete
 	var meshSmiInfoList []meshSmiInfo
 
 	for _, mesh := range meshInfoList {
-		meshControllerPods := getNamespacePods(clientSet, mesh.name, mesh.namespace)
+		meshControllerPods := GetOSMControllerPods(clientSet, mesh.namespace)
 
 		meshSmiSupportedVersions := []string{"Unknown"}
-		if pods, ok := meshControllerPods["Pods"]; ok && len(pods) > 0 {
-			smiMap, err := getSupportedSmiForControllerPod(meshControllerPods["Pods"][0], mesh.namespace, config, clientSet, localPort)
+		if len(meshControllerPods.Items) > 0 {
+			// for listing mesh information, checking info using the first osm-controller pod should suffice
+			controllerPod := meshControllerPods.Items[0]
+			smiMap, err := getSupportedSmiForControllerPod(controllerPod.Name, mesh.namespace, config, clientSet, localPort)
 			if err == nil {
 				meshSmiSupportedVersions = []string{}
 				for smi, version := range smiMap {
diff --git a/cmd/cli/util_test.go b/cmd/cli/util_test.go
index 0ba977fc02..2bc7802c4c 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/util_test.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/util_test.go
@@ -9,8 +9,11 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	tassert "github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
 
 	"github.com/openservicemesh/osm/pkg/constants"
 )
@@ -157,6 +160,95 @@ var _ = Describe("Test getting pretty printed output of smi info of a list of me
 	})
 })
 
+func TestGetNamespaceOsmControllerPods(t *testing.T) {
+	testNamespace := "osm-namespace"
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		testName         string
+		pods             []*corev1.Pod
+		expectedPodNames []string
+	}{
+		{
+			testName: "multiple pods (osm-controller pods and other pods) in multiple namespaces",
+			pods: []*corev1.Pod{
+				{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Name:      "osm-controller-pod-1",
+						Namespace: testNamespace,
+						Labels: map[string]string{
+							"app": constants.OSMControllerName,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Name:      "osm-controller-pod-2",
+						Namespace: testNamespace,
+						Labels: map[string]string{
+							"app": constants.OSMControllerName,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Name:      "some-other-osm-controller-pod",
+						Namespace: "some-other-namespace",
+						Labels: map[string]string{
+							"app": constants.OSMControllerName,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Name:      "application-pod-1",
+						Namespace: testNamespace,
+						Labels: map[string]string{
+							"app": "myapp",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Name:      "application-pod-2",
+						Namespace: "some-other-namespace",
+						Labels: map[string]string{
+							"app": "myapp",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expectedPodNames: []string{
+				"osm-controller-pod-1",
+				"osm-controller-pod-2",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			testName:         "no pods",
+			pods:             []*corev1.Pod{},
+			expectedPodNames: []string{},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.testName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert := tassert.New(t)
+
+			objs := make([]runtime.Object, len(test.pods))
+			for i := range test.pods {
+				objs[i] = test.pods[i]
+			}
+
+			fakeClientSet := fake.NewSimpleClientset(objs...)
+			podList := GetOSMControllerPods(fakeClientSet, testNamespace)
+			actualPodNames := make([]string, len(podList.Items))
+			for i, pod := range podList.Items {
+				actualPodNames[i] = pod.Name
+			}
+			assert.ElementsMatch(test.expectedPodNames, actualPodNames)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 // helper function for tests that adds deployment to the clientset
 func addDeployment(fakeClientSet kubernetes.Interface, depName string, meshName string, namespace string, osmVersion string, isMesh bool) (*v1.Deployment, error) {
 	dep := createDeployment(depName, meshName, osmVersion, isMesh)