diff --git a/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel.go b/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel.go
index 2f7b815997..d6fb283d41 100644
--- a/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel.go
+++ b/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel.go
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ import (
 	pkgreconciler "knative.dev/pkg/reconciler"
 
 	"knative.dev/eventing-contrib/kafka/channel/pkg/apis/messaging/v1alpha1"
-	kafkaclientset "knative.dev/eventing-contrib/kafka/channel/pkg/client/clientset/versioned"
 	kafkaScheme "knative.dev/eventing-contrib/kafka/channel/pkg/client/clientset/versioned/scheme"
 	kafkaChannelReconciler "knative.dev/eventing-contrib/kafka/channel/pkg/client/injection/reconciler/messaging/v1alpha1/kafkachannel"
 	listers "knative.dev/eventing-contrib/kafka/channel/pkg/client/listers/messaging/v1alpha1"
@@ -109,9 +108,8 @@ type Reconciler struct {
 	systemNamespace string
 	dispatcherImage string
 
-	kafkaConfig      *utils.KafkaConfig
-	kafkaConfigError error
-	kafkaClientSet   kafkaclientset.Interface
+	clusterKafkaConfig      *utils.KafkaConfig
+	clusterKafkaConfigError error
 
 	// Using a shared kafkaClusterAdmin does not work currently because of an issue with
 	// Shopify/sarama, see https://github.com/Shopify/sarama/issues/1162.
@@ -150,12 +148,12 @@ func (r *Reconciler) ReconcileKind(ctx context.Context, kc *v1alpha1.KafkaChanne
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if r.kafkaConfig == nil {
-		if r.kafkaConfigError == nil {
-			r.kafkaConfigError = errors.New("The config map 'config-kafka' does not exist")
+	if r.clusterKafkaConfig == nil {
+		if r.clusterKafkaConfigError == nil {
+			r.clusterKafkaConfigError = errors.New("The config map 'config-kafka' does not exist")
 		}
-		kc.Status.MarkConfigFailed("MissingConfiguration", "%v", r.kafkaConfigError)
-		return r.kafkaConfigError
+		kc.Status.MarkConfigFailed("MissingConfiguration", "%v", r.clusterKafkaConfigError)
+		return r.clusterKafkaConfigError
 	}
 
 	kafkaClusterAdmin, err := r.createClient(ctx, kc)
@@ -433,7 +431,7 @@ func (r *Reconciler) createClient(ctx context.Context, kc *v1alpha1.KafkaChannel
 	kafkaClusterAdmin := r.kafkaClusterAdmin
 	if kafkaClusterAdmin == nil {
 		var err error
-		kafkaClusterAdmin, err = resources.MakeClient(controllerAgentName, r.kafkaConfig.Brokers)
+		kafkaClusterAdmin, err = resources.MakeClient(controllerAgentName, r.clusterKafkaConfig.Brokers)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -484,14 +482,14 @@ func (r *Reconciler) updateKafkaConfig(ctx context.Context, configMap *corev1.Co
 	}
 	// For now just override the previous config.
 	// Eventually the previous config should be snapshotted to delete Kafka topics
-	r.kafkaConfig = kafkaConfig
-	r.kafkaConfigError = err
+	r.clusterKafkaConfig = kafkaConfig
+	r.clusterKafkaConfigError = err
 }
 
 func (r *Reconciler) FinalizeKind(ctx context.Context, kc *v1alpha1.KafkaChannel) pkgreconciler.Event {
 	// Do not attempt retrying creating the client because it might be a permanent error
 	// in which case the finalizer will never get removed.
-	if kafkaClusterAdmin, err := r.createClient(ctx, kc); err == nil && r.kafkaConfig != nil {
+	if kafkaClusterAdmin, err := r.createClient(ctx, kc); err == nil && r.clusterKafkaConfig != nil {
 		if err := r.deleteTopic(ctx, kc, kafkaClusterAdmin); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel_test.go b/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel_test.go
index cd50396956..c165016e38 100644
--- a/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel_test.go
+++ b/kafka/channel/pkg/reconciler/controller/kafkachannel_test.go
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ func TestAllCases(t *testing.T) {
 		r := &Reconciler{
 			systemNamespace: testNS,
 			dispatcherImage: testDispatcherImage,
-			kafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
+			clusterKafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
 				Brokers: []string{brokerName},
 			},
 			kafkachannelLister: listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(),
@@ -336,11 +336,10 @@ func TestAllCases(t *testing.T) {
 			serviceLister:        listers.GetServiceLister(),
 			endpointsLister:      listers.GetEndpointsLister(),
 			kafkaClusterAdmin:    &mockClusterAdmin{},
-			kafkaClientSet:       fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx),
 			KubeClientSet:        kubeclient.Get(ctx),
 			EventingClientSet:    eventingClient.Get(ctx),
 		}
-		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), r.kafkaClientSet, listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
+		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx), listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
 	}, zap.L()))
 }
 
@@ -384,7 +383,7 @@ func TestTopicExists(t *testing.T) {
 		r := &Reconciler{
 			systemNamespace: testNS,
 			dispatcherImage: testDispatcherImage,
-			kafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
+			clusterKafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
 				Brokers: []string{brokerName},
 			},
 			kafkachannelLister: listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(),
@@ -402,11 +401,10 @@ func TestTopicExists(t *testing.T) {
 					}
 				},
 			},
-			kafkaClientSet:    fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx),
 			KubeClientSet:     kubeclient.Get(ctx),
 			EventingClientSet: eventingClient.Get(ctx),
 		}
-		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), r.kafkaClientSet, listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
+		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx), listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
 	}, zap.L()))
 }
 
@@ -454,7 +452,7 @@ func TestDeploymentUpdatedOnImageChange(t *testing.T) {
 		r := &Reconciler{
 			systemNamespace: testNS,
 			dispatcherImage: testDispatcherImage,
-			kafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
+			clusterKafkaConfig: &KafkaConfig{
 				Brokers: []string{brokerName},
 			},
 			kafkachannelLister: listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(),
@@ -472,11 +470,10 @@ func TestDeploymentUpdatedOnImageChange(t *testing.T) {
 					}
 				},
 			},
-			kafkaClientSet:    fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx),
 			KubeClientSet:     kubeclient.Get(ctx),
 			EventingClientSet: eventingClient.Get(ctx),
 		}
-		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), r.kafkaClientSet, listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
+		return kafkachannel.NewReconciler(ctx, logging.FromContext(ctx), fakekafkaclient.Get(ctx), listers.GetKafkaChannelLister(), controller.GetEventRecorder(ctx), r)
 	}, zap.L()))
 }