diff --git a/pkg/api/serialization_test.go b/pkg/api/serialization_test.go
index a6612e93809..16e2a7aace9 100644
--- a/pkg/api/serialization_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/serialization_test.go
@@ -75,19 +75,6 @@ var apiObjectFuzzer = fuzz.New().NilChance(.5).NumElements(1, 1).Funcs(
 		c.Fuzz(&nsec)
 		j.CreationTimestamp = util.Unix(sec, nsec).Rfc3339Copy()
 	},
-	func(j *api.ObjectReference, c fuzz.Continue) {
-		// We have to customize the randomization of TypeMetas because their
-		// APIVersion and Kind must remain blank in memory.
-		j.APIVersion = c.RandString()
-		j.Kind = c.RandString()
-		j.Namespace = c.RandString()
-		j.Name = c.RandString()
-		// TODO: Fix JSON/YAML packages and/or write custom encoding
-		// for uint64's. Somehow the LS *byte* of this is lost, but
-		// only when all 8 bytes are set.
-		j.ResourceVersion = strconv.FormatUint(c.RandUint64()>>8, 10)
-		j.FieldPath = c.RandString()
-	},
 	func(intstr *util.IntOrString, c fuzz.Continue) {
 		// util.IntOrString will panic if its kind is set wrong.
 		if c.RandBool() {
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go b/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
index d7284483a3c..a745c97bec4 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
@@ -59,36 +59,6 @@ func init() {
 			return nil
 		},
 
-		// ObjectReference has changed type of ResourceVersion internally
-		func(in *newer.ObjectReference, out *ObjectReference, s conversion.Scope) error {
-			out.APIVersion = in.APIVersion
-			out.Kind = in.Kind
-			out.Namespace = in.Namespace
-			out.Name = in.Name
-			out.FieldPath = in.FieldPath
-
-			if len(in.ResourceVersion) > 0 {
-				v, err := strconv.ParseUint(in.ResourceVersion, 10, 64)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-				out.ResourceVersion = v
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
-		func(in *ObjectReference, out *newer.ObjectReference, s conversion.Scope) error {
-			out.APIVersion = in.APIVersion
-			out.Kind = in.Kind
-			out.Namespace = in.Namespace
-			out.Name = in.Name
-			out.FieldPath = in.FieldPath
-
-			if in.ResourceVersion != 0 {
-				out.ResourceVersion = strconv.FormatUint(in.ResourceVersion, 10)
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
-
 		// EnvVar's Key is deprecated in favor of Name.
 		func(in *newer.EnvVar, out *EnvVar, s conversion.Scope) error {
 			out.Value = in.Value
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
index b0180d3ddb5..5429024df1e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ type ObjectReference struct {
 	Name            string `json:"name,omitempty" yaml:"name,omitempty"`
 	UID             string `json:"uid,omitempty" yaml:"uid,omitempty"`
 	APIVersion      string `json:"apiVersion,omitempty" yaml:"apiVersion,omitempty"`
-	ResourceVersion uint64 `json:"resourceVersion,omitempty" yaml:"resourceVersion,omitempty"`
+	ResourceVersion string `json:"resourceVersion,omitempty" yaml:"resourceVersion,omitempty"`
 
 	// Optional. If referring to a piece of an object instead of an entire object, this string
 	// should contain a valid field access statement. For example,
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go b/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
index abe3857ebca..59f398bedb6 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
@@ -59,36 +59,6 @@ func init() {
 			return nil
 		},
 
-		// ObjectReference has changed type of ResourceVersion internally
-		func(in *newer.ObjectReference, out *ObjectReference, s conversion.Scope) error {
-			out.APIVersion = in.APIVersion
-			out.Kind = in.Kind
-			out.Namespace = in.Namespace
-			out.Name = in.Name
-			out.FieldPath = in.FieldPath
-
-			if len(in.ResourceVersion) > 0 {
-				v, err := strconv.ParseUint(in.ResourceVersion, 10, 64)
-				if err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-				out.ResourceVersion = v
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
-		func(in *ObjectReference, out *newer.ObjectReference, s conversion.Scope) error {
-			out.APIVersion = in.APIVersion
-			out.Kind = in.Kind
-			out.Namespace = in.Namespace
-			out.Name = in.Name
-			out.FieldPath = in.FieldPath
-
-			if in.ResourceVersion != 0 {
-				out.ResourceVersion = strconv.FormatUint(in.ResourceVersion, 10)
-			}
-			return nil
-		},
-
 		// EnvVar's Key is deprecated in favor of Name.
 		func(in *newer.EnvVar, out *EnvVar, s conversion.Scope) error {
 			out.Value = in.Value
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
index 0d45d527943..ce90515b8b2 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ type ObjectReference struct {
 	Name            string `json:"name,omitempty" yaml:"name,omitempty"`
 	UID             string `json:"uid,omitempty" yaml:"uid,omitempty"`
 	APIVersion      string `json:"apiVersion,omitempty" yaml:"apiVersion,omitempty"`
-	ResourceVersion uint64 `json:"resourceVersion,omitempty" yaml:"resourceVersion,omitempty"`
+	ResourceVersion string `json:"resourceVersion,omitempty" yaml:"resourceVersion,omitempty"`
 
 	// Optional. If referring to a piece of an object instead of an entire object, this string
 	// should contain a valid field access statement. For example,