diff --git a/cmd/libs/go2idl/client-gen/main.go b/cmd/libs/go2idl/client-gen/main.go
index f33123ab6f4..490df8b6ad2 100644
--- a/cmd/libs/go2idl/client-gen/main.go
+++ b/cmd/libs/go2idl/client-gen/main.go
@@ -58,11 +58,8 @@ func parseGroupVersionType(gvtString string) (gvString string, typeStr string, e
 	length := len(subs)
 	switch length {
 	case 2:
-		// handle legacy api group version.
-		if subs[0] == "api" {
-			return "api/", subs[1], nil
-		}
-		return "", "", invalidFormatErr
+		// gvtString of the form group/type, e.g. api/Service,extensions/ReplicaSet
+		return subs[0] + "/", subs[1], nil
 	case 3:
 		return strings.Join(subs[:length-1], "/"), subs[length-1], nil
 	default: