diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
index 401af5d65e0..cb07511878e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	utilyaml "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/yaml"
 
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -98,7 +99,12 @@ func getSelfLink(name, namespace string) string {
 type defaultFunc func(pod *api.Pod) error
 
 func tryDecodeSinglePod(data []byte, defaultFn defaultFunc) (parsed bool, pod *api.Pod, err error) {
-	obj, err := api.Scheme.Decode(data)
+	// JSON is valid YAML, so this should work for everything.
+	json, err := utilyaml.ToJSON(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, nil, err
+	}
+	obj, err := api.Scheme.Decode(json)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, pod, err
 	}
@@ -120,7 +126,11 @@ func tryDecodeSinglePod(data []byte, defaultFn defaultFunc) (parsed bool, pod *a
 }
 
 func tryDecodePodList(data []byte, defaultFn defaultFunc) (parsed bool, pods api.PodList, err error) {
-	obj, err := api.Scheme.Decode(data)
+	json, err := utilyaml.ToJSON(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, api.PodList{}, err
+	}
+	obj, err := api.Scheme.Decode(json)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, pods, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f8d4da466d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 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 config
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/testapi"
+
+	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
+)
+
+func noDefault(*api.Pod) error { return nil }
+
+func TestDecodeSinglePod(t *testing.T) {
+	pod := &api.Pod{
+		TypeMeta: api.TypeMeta{
+			APIVersion: "",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "test",
+			UID:       "12345",
+			Namespace: "mynamespace",
+		},
+		Spec: api.PodSpec{
+			RestartPolicy: api.RestartPolicyAlways,
+			DNSPolicy:     api.DNSClusterFirst,
+			Containers: []api.Container{{
+				Name:                   "image",
+				Image:                  "test/image",
+				ImagePullPolicy:        "IfNotPresent",
+				TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
+			}},
+		},
+	}
+	json, err := testapi.Codec().Encode(pod)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	parsed, podOut, err := tryDecodeSinglePod(json, noDefault)
+	if testapi.Version() == "v1beta1" {
+		// v1beta1 conversion leaves empty lists that should be nil
+		podOut.Spec.Containers[0].Resources.Limits = nil
+		podOut.Spec.Containers[0].Resources.Requests = nil
+	}
+	if !parsed {
+		t.Errorf("expected to have parsed file: (%s)", string(json))
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v (%s)", err, string(json))
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(pod, podOut) {
+		t.Errorf("expected:\n%#v\ngot:\n%#v\n%s", pod, podOut, string(json))
+	}
+
+	externalPod, err := testapi.Converter().ConvertToVersion(pod, "v1beta3")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	yaml, err := yaml.Marshal(externalPod)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	parsed, podOut, err = tryDecodeSinglePod(yaml, noDefault)
+	if !parsed {
+		t.Errorf("expected to have parsed file: (%s)", string(yaml))
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v (%s)", err, string(yaml))
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(pod, podOut) {
+		t.Errorf("expected:\n%#v\ngot:\n%#v\n%s", pod, podOut, string(yaml))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDecodePodList(t *testing.T) {
+	pod := &api.Pod{
+		TypeMeta: api.TypeMeta{
+			APIVersion: "",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "test",
+			UID:       "12345",
+			Namespace: "mynamespace",
+		},
+		Spec: api.PodSpec{
+			RestartPolicy: api.RestartPolicyAlways,
+			DNSPolicy:     api.DNSClusterFirst,
+			Containers: []api.Container{{
+				Name:                   "image",
+				Image:                  "test/image",
+				ImagePullPolicy:        "IfNotPresent",
+				TerminationMessagePath: "/dev/termination-log",
+			}},
+		},
+	}
+	podList := &api.PodList{
+		Items: []api.Pod{*pod},
+	}
+	json, err := testapi.Codec().Encode(podList)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	parsed, podListOut, err := tryDecodePodList(json, noDefault)
+	if testapi.Version() == "v1beta1" {
+		// v1beta1 conversion leaves empty lists that should be nil
+		podListOut.Items[0].Spec.Containers[0].Resources.Limits = nil
+		podListOut.Items[0].Spec.Containers[0].Resources.Requests = nil
+	}
+	if !parsed {
+		t.Errorf("expected to have parsed file: (%s)", string(json))
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v (%s)", err, string(json))
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(podList, &podListOut) {
+		t.Errorf("expected:\n%#v\ngot:\n%#v\n%s", podList, &podListOut, string(json))
+	}
+
+	externalPodList, err := testapi.Converter().ConvertToVersion(podList, "v1beta3")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	yaml, err := yaml.Marshal(externalPodList)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	parsed, podListOut, err = tryDecodePodList(yaml, noDefault)
+	if !parsed {
+		t.Errorf("expected to have parsed file: (%s)", string(yaml))
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v (%s)", err, string(yaml))
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(podList, &podListOut) {
+		t.Errorf("expected:\n%#v\ngot:\n%#v\n%s", pod, &podListOut, string(yaml))
+	}
+}