diff --git a/pkg/api/ref.go b/pkg/api/ref.go
index 7c5db5789d2..2af43ebb3d1 100644
--- a/pkg/api/ref.go
+++ b/pkg/api/ref.go
@@ -25,11 +25,18 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
-// ErrNilObject indicates an error that the obj passed to GetReference is nil.
-var ErrNilObject = errors.New("Can't reference a nil object")
+var (
+	// Errors that could be returned by GetReference.
+	ErrNilObject  = errors.New("can't reference a nil object")
+	ErrNoSelfLink = errors.New("selfLink was empty, can't make reference")
+)
 
 var versionFromSelfLink = regexp.MustCompile("/api/([^/]*)/")
 
+// ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks can be set to true in tests to avoid
+// "ErrNoSelfLink" errors.
+var ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks = false
+
 // GetReference returns an ObjectReference which refers to the given
 // object, or an error if the object doesn't follow the conventions
 // that would allow this.
@@ -49,13 +56,22 @@ func GetReference(obj runtime.Object) (*ObjectReference, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	version := versionFromSelfLink.FindStringSubmatch(meta.SelfLink())
-	if len(version) < 2 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected self link format: '%v'; got version '%v'", meta.SelfLink(), version)
+	version := ""
+	parsedSelfLink := versionFromSelfLink.FindStringSubmatch(meta.SelfLink())
+	if len(parsedSelfLink) < 2 {
+		if ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks {
+			version = "testing"
+		} else if meta.SelfLink() == "" {
+			return nil, ErrNoSelfLink
+		} else {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected self link format: '%v'; got version '%v'", meta.SelfLink(), version)
+		}
+	} else {
+		version = parsedSelfLink[1]
 	}
 	return &ObjectReference{
 		Kind:            kind,
-		APIVersion:      version[1],
+		APIVersion:      version,
 		Name:            meta.Name(),
 		Namespace:       meta.Namespace(),
 		UID:             meta.UID(),
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 26a35b90d59..b5db1fe4ec6 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ func NewIntegrationTestKubelet(hn string, rd string, dc dockertools.DockerInterf
 		networkContainerImage: NetworkContainerImage,
 		resyncInterval:        3 * time.Second,
 		podWorkers:            newPodWorkers(),
-		dockerIDToRef:         map[dockertools.DockerID]*api.ObjectReference{},
 	}
 }
 
@@ -456,6 +455,9 @@ func containerRef(pod *api.BoundPod, container *api.Container) (*api.ObjectRefer
 func (kl *Kubelet) setRef(id dockertools.DockerID, ref *api.ObjectReference) {
 	kl.refLock.Lock()
 	defer kl.refLock.Unlock()
+	if kl.dockerIDToRef == nil {
+		kl.dockerIDToRef = map[dockertools.DockerID]*api.ObjectReference{}
+	}
 	kl.dockerIDToRef[id] = ref
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index 22c2edf85a7..dece75b9729 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/mock"
 )
 
+func init() {
+	api.ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks = true
+	util.ReallyCrash = true
+}
+
 func newTestKubelet(t *testing.T) (*Kubelet, *tools.FakeEtcdClient, *dockertools.FakeDockerClient) {
 	fakeEtcdClient := tools.NewFakeEtcdClient(t)
 	fakeDocker := &dockertools.FakeDockerClient{}