diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch/retrywatcher.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch/retrywatcher.go
index 62c14b07844..e45d58ec15d 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch/retrywatcher.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/tools/watch/retrywatcher.go
@@ -184,13 +184,17 @@ func (rw *RetryWatcher) doReceive() (bool, time.Duration) {
 				continue
 
 			case watch.Error:
-				status, ok := event.Object.(*metav1.Status)
+				// This round trip allows us to handle unstructured status
+				errObject := apierrors.FromObject(event.Object)
+				statusErr, ok := errObject.(*apierrors.StatusError)
 				if !ok {
 					klog.Error(spew.Sprintf("Received an error which is not *metav1.Status but %#+v", event.Object))
 					// Retry unknown errors
 					return false, 0
 				}
 
+				status := statusErr.ErrStatus
+
 				statusDelay := time.Duration(0)
 				if status.Details != nil {
 					statusDelay = time.Duration(status.Details.RetryAfterSeconds) * time.Second