diff --git a/pkg/api/testing/BUILD b/pkg/api/testing/BUILD
index e628fc9e37e..81585c39fe0 100644
--- a/pkg/api/testing/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/api/testing/BUILD
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ go_test(
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/testing/fuzzer:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/testing/roundtrip:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/conversion:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/conversion/unstructured:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
diff --git a/pkg/api/testing/unstructured_test.go b/pkg/api/testing/unstructured_test.go
index 32eaedc06c0..8894bf4d38b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/testing/unstructured_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/testing/unstructured_test.go
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/testing/fuzzer"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	metaunstruct "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/conversion/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
@@ -131,6 +134,43 @@ func TestRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRoundTripWithEmptyCreationTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
+	for groupKey, group := range testapi.Groups {
+		for kind := range group.ExternalTypes() {
+			if nonRoundTrippableTypes.Has(kind) {
+				continue
+			}
+			item, err := legacyscheme.Scheme.New(group.GroupVersion().WithKind(kind))
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Couldn't create external object %v: %v", kind, err)
+			}
+			t.Logf("Testing: %v in %v", kind, groupKey)
+
+			unstrBody, err := unstructured.DefaultConverter.ToUnstructured(item)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("ToUnstructured failed: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			unstructObj := &metaunstruct.Unstructured{}
+			unstructObj.Object = unstrBody
+
+			if meta, err := meta.Accessor(unstructObj); err == nil {
+				meta.SetCreationTimestamp(metav1.Time{})
+			} else {
+				t.Fatalf("Unable to set creation timestamp: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			// attempt to re-convert unstructured object - conversion should not fail
+			// based on empty metadata fields, such as creationTimestamp
+			newObj := reflect.New(reflect.TypeOf(item).Elem()).Interface().(runtime.Object)
+			err = unstructured.DefaultConverter.FromUnstructured(unstructObj.Object, newObj)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("FromUnstructured failed: %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func BenchmarkToFromUnstructured(b *testing.B) {
 	items := benchmarkItems(b)
 	size := len(items)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
index e95a5397d43..56d18a32e85 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
@@ -258,6 +258,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetCreationTimestamp() metav1.Time {
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetCreationTimestamp(timestamp metav1.Time) {
 	ts, _ := timestamp.MarshalQueryParameter()
+	if len(ts) == 0 || timestamp.Time.IsZero() {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "creationTimestamp")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(ts, "metadata", "creationTimestamp")
 }
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_list_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_list_test.go
index e6f0cf8e9a9..db935774a79 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_list_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_list_test.go
@@ -62,3 +62,24 @@ func TestNilDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	_, ok = metadata["deletionTimestamp"]
 	assert.False(t, ok)
 }
+
+func TestEmptyCreationTimestampIsOmitted(t *testing.T) {
+	var u Unstructured
+	now := metav1.Now()
+
+	// set an initial creationTimestamp and ensure the field exists
+	u.SetCreationTimestamp(now)
+	metadata := u.Object["metadata"].(map[string]interface{})
+	creationTimestamp, exists := metadata["creationTimestamp"]
+	if !exists {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected missing creationTimestamp")
+	}
+
+	// set an empty timestamp and ensure the field no longer exists
+	u.SetCreationTimestamp(metav1.Time{})
+	metadata = u.Object["metadata"].(map[string]interface{})
+	creationTimestamp, exists = metadata["creationTimestamp"]
+	if exists {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected creation timestamp field: %q", creationTimestamp)
+	}
+}