diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/update_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/update_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b2ba88a0b33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/update_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cmd_test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
+)
+
+func rcTestData() *api.ReplicationControllerList {
+	rc := &api.ReplicationControllerList{
+		ListMeta: api.ListMeta{
+			ResourceVersion: "17",
+		},
+		Items: []api.ReplicationController{
+			{
+				ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{Name: "qux", Namespace: "test", ResourceVersion: "13"},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	return rc
+}
+
+func TestUpdateObject(t *testing.T) {
+	pods, _ := testData()
+
+	f, tf, codec := NewAPIFactory()
+	tf.Printer = &testPrinter{}
+	tf.Client = &client.FakeRESTClient{
+		Codec: codec,
+		Client: client.HTTPClientFunc(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/ns/test/pods/redis-master" && m == "GET":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &pods.Items[0])}, nil
+			case p == "/ns/test/pods/redis-master" && m == "PUT":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &pods.Items[0])}, nil
+			default:
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected request: %#v\n%#v", req.URL, req)
+				return nil, nil
+			}
+		}),
+	}
+	tf.Namespace = "test"
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+
+	cmd := f.NewCmdUpdate(buf)
+	cmd.Flags().Set("filename", "../../../examples/guestbook/redis-master.json")
+	cmd.Run(cmd, []string{})
+
+	// uses the name from the file, not the response
+	if buf.String() != "redis-master\n" {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected output: %s", buf.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUpdateMultipleObject(t *testing.T) {
+	pods, svc := testData()
+
+	f, tf, codec := NewAPIFactory()
+	tf.Printer = &testPrinter{}
+	tf.Client = &client.FakeRESTClient{
+		Codec: codec,
+		Client: client.HTTPClientFunc(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/ns/test/pods/redis-master" && m == "GET":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &pods.Items[0])}, nil
+			case p == "/ns/test/pods/redis-master" && m == "PUT":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &pods.Items[0])}, nil
+
+			case p == "/ns/test/services/frontend" && m == "GET":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &svc.Items[0])}, nil
+			case p == "/ns/test/services/frontend" && m == "PUT":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &svc.Items[0])}, nil
+			default:
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected request: %#v\n%#v", req.URL, req)
+				return nil, nil
+			}
+		}),
+	}
+	tf.Namespace = "test"
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+
+	cmd := f.NewCmdUpdate(buf)
+	cmd.Flags().Set("filename", "../../../examples/guestbook/redis-master.json")
+	cmd.Flags().Set("filename", "../../../examples/guestbook/frontend-service.json")
+	cmd.Run(cmd, []string{})
+
+	if buf.String() != "redis-master\nfrontend\n" {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected output: %s", buf.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestUpdateDirectory(t *testing.T) {
+	pods, svc := testData()
+	rc := rcTestData()
+
+	f, tf, codec := NewAPIFactory()
+	tf.Printer = &testPrinter{}
+	tf.Client = &client.FakeRESTClient{
+		Codec: codec,
+		Client: client.HTTPClientFunc(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case strings.HasPrefix(p, "/ns/test/pods/") && (m == "GET" || m == "PUT"):
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &pods.Items[0])}, nil
+			case strings.HasPrefix(p, "/ns/test/services/") && (m == "GET" || m == "PUT"):
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &svc.Items[0])}, nil
+			case strings.HasPrefix(p, "/ns/test/replicationcontrollers/") && (m == "GET" || m == "PUT"):
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 200, Body: objBody(codec, &rc.Items[0])}, nil
+			default:
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected request: %#v\n%#v", req.URL, req)
+				return nil, nil
+			}
+		}),
+	}
+	tf.Namespace = "test"
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+
+	cmd := f.NewCmdUpdate(buf)
+	cmd.Flags().Set("filename", "../../../examples/guestbook")
+	cmd.Flags().Set("namespace", "test")
+	cmd.Run(cmd, []string{})
+
+	if buf.String() != "frontend-controller\nfrontend\nredis-master\nredis-master\nredis-slave-controller\nredisslave\n" {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected output: %s", buf.String())
+	}
+}