diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
index f6fad80f48..e195770c05 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/instructions.ts
@@ -556,22 +556,38 @@ function getRenderFlags(view: LView): RenderFlags {
 //////////////////////////
 //// Namespace
 //////////////////////////
-let _currentNS: string|null = null;
+let _currentNamespace: string|null = null;
 
-export function setNS(namespace: string) {
-  _currentNS = namespace;
+/**
+ * Sets the namespace URI that will be used to create elements in {@link element}
+ * and {@link elementStart}
+ * @param uri the full namespaceUri
+ */
+export function namespace(uri: string | null) {
+  _currentNamespace = uri;
 }
 
-export function setHtmlNS() {
-  _currentNS = null;
+/**
+ * Sets the current namespace URI to null, meaning createElement (not createElementNS)
+ * will be used to create elements in {@link element} and {@link elementStart}
+ */
+export function namespaceHTML() {
+  _currentNamespace = null;
 }
 
-export function setSvgNS() {
-  _currentNS = 'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg';
+/**
+ * Sets the current namespace URI to http://www.w3.org/2000/svg, which will be
+ * used in conjunction with createElementNS in {@link element} and {@link elementStart}
+ */
+export function namespaceSVG() {
+  _currentNamespace = 'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg';
 }
-
-export function setMathML() {
-  _currentNS = 'http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML';
+/**
+ * Sets the current namespace URI to http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML, which will be
+ * used in conjunction with createElementNS in {@link element} and {@link elementStart}
+ */
+export function namespaceMathML() {
+  _currentNamespace = 'http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML';
 }
 
 
@@ -599,9 +615,9 @@ export function elementStart(
 
   ngDevMode && ngDevMode.rendererCreateElement++;
 
-  const native: RElement = _currentNS === null || isProceduralRenderer(renderer) ?
+  const native: RElement = _currentNamespace === null || isProceduralRenderer(renderer) ?
       renderer.createElement(name) :
-      (renderer as ObjectOrientedRenderer3).createElementNS(_currentNS, name);
+      (renderer as ObjectOrientedRenderer3).createElementNS(_currentNamespace, name);
 
   ngDevMode && assertDataInRange(index - 1);
 
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 2b63963bd6..8a2c2c97c0 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
     "name": "_currentInjector"
   },
   {
-    "name": "_currentNS"
+    "name": "_currentNamespace"
   },
   {
     "name": "_devMode"
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/instructions_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/instructions_spec.ts
index b7e79be99d..32aa8fe6fc 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/instructions_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/instructions_spec.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {NgForOfContext} from '@angular/common';
 
 import {RenderFlags, directiveInject} from '../../src/render3';
 import {defineComponent} from '../../src/render3/definition';
-import {bind, container, element, elementAttribute, elementClass, elementEnd, elementProperty, elementStart, elementStyle, elementStyleNamed, interpolation1, renderTemplate, setHtmlNS, setSvgNS, text, textBinding} from '../../src/render3/instructions';
+import {bind, container, element, elementAttribute, elementClass, elementEnd, elementProperty, elementStart, elementStyle, elementStyleNamed, interpolation1, namespaceHTML, namespaceSVG, renderTemplate, text, textBinding} from '../../src/render3/instructions';
 import {AttributeMarker, LElementNode, LNode} from '../../src/render3/interfaces/node';
 import {RElement, domRendererFactory3} from '../../src/render3/interfaces/renderer';
 import {TrustedString, bypassSanitizationTrustHtml, bypassSanitizationTrustResourceUrl, bypassSanitizationTrustScript, bypassSanitizationTrustStyle, bypassSanitizationTrustUrl, sanitizeHtml, sanitizeResourceUrl, sanitizeScript, sanitizeStyle, sanitizeUrl} from '../../src/sanitization/sanitization';
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ describe('instructions', () => {
     it('should render SVG', () => {
       const t = new TemplateFixture(() => {
         elementStart(0, 'div', ['id', 'container']);
-        setSvgNS();
+        namespaceSVG();
         elementStart(1, 'svg', [
           // id="display"
           'id',
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ describe('instructions', () => {
         ]);
         element(2, 'circle', ['cx', '200', 'cy', '150', 'fill', '#0000ff']);
         elementEnd();
-        setHtmlNS();
+        namespaceHTML();
         elementEnd();
       });