diff --git a/.changeset/dirty-buckets-flow.md b/.changeset/dirty-buckets-flow.md
index c0f0f030e2..b76ab5d35c 100644
--- a/.changeset/dirty-buckets-flow.md
+++ b/.changeset/dirty-buckets-flow.md
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@
 '@backstage/plugin-catalog-import': patch
 ---
 
-Omits the entity namespace from a generated entity when it has not be explicitly defined in the analyze-location result.
+This updates the `catalog-import` plugin to omit the default metadata namespace
+field and also use the short form entity reference format for selected group owners.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/ImportStepper/defaults.tsx b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/ImportStepper/defaults.tsx
index f2dd1d62f4..5252b0aeae 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/ImportStepper/defaults.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/ImportStepper/defaults.tsx
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ export function defaultGenerateStepper(
                       errorHelperText="required value"
                       textFieldProps={{
                         label: 'Entity Owner',
-                        placeholder: 'Group:default/my-group',
+                        placeholder: 'my-group',
                       }}
                       rules={{ required: true }}
                       required
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.test.tsx b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.test.tsx
index 0f8df04968..606f9ff88e 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.test.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.test.tsx
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ spec:
       renderFormFieldsFn.mock.calls[
         renderFormFieldsFn.mock.calls.length - 1
       ][0],
-    ).toMatchObject({ groups: ['Group:my-group'], groupsLoading: false });
+    ).toMatchObject({ groups: ['my-group'], groupsLoading: false });
   });
 
   describe('generateEntities', () => {
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.tsx b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.tsx
index 0d08e27681..333df76026 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-import/src/components/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest/StepPrepareCreatePullRequest.tsx
@@ -14,9 +14,12 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { Entity, serializeEntityRef } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { useApi } from '@backstage/core';
-import { catalogApiRef } from '@backstage/plugin-catalog-react';
+import {
+  catalogApiRef,
+  formatEntityRefTitle,
+} from '@backstage/plugin-catalog-react';
 import { Box, FormHelperText, Grid, Typography } from '@material-ui/core';
 import { makeStyles } from '@material-ui/core/styles';
 import React, { useCallback, useState } from 'react';
@@ -106,8 +109,9 @@ export const StepPrepareCreatePullRequest = ({
       filter: { kind: 'group' },
     });
 
-    // TODO: defaultKind (=group), defaultNamespace (=same as entity)
-    return groupEntities.items.map(e => serializeEntityRef(e) as string).sort();
+    return groupEntities.items
+      .map(e => formatEntityRefTitle(e, { defaultKind: 'group' }))
+      .sort();
   });
 
   const handleResult = useCallback(