diff --git a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta.go b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta.go
index 8ac6eeee94f..ca2c0e61939 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 
 	api_v1 "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/v1"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
 // Copies cluster-independent, user provided data from the given ObjectMeta struct. If in
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ func DeepCopyObjectMeta(obj api_v1.ObjectMeta) api_v1.ObjectMeta {
 	return copyMeta
 }
 
-// Checks if cluster-independed, user provided data in two given ObjectMeta are eqaul. If in
+// Checks if cluster-independent, user provided data in two given ObjectMeta are equal. If in
 // the future the ObjectMeta structure is expanded then any field that is not populated
 // by the api server should be included here.
 func ObjectMetaEquivalent(a, b api_v1.ObjectMeta) bool {
@@ -72,3 +73,13 @@ func ObjectMetaEquivalent(a, b api_v1.ObjectMeta) bool {
 	}
 	return true
 }
+
+// Checks if cluster-independent, user provided data in ObjectMeta and Spec in two given top
+// level api objects are equivalent.
+func ObjectMetaAndSpecEquivalent(a, b runtime.Object) bool {
+	objectMetaA := reflect.ValueOf(a).Elem().FieldByName("ObjectMeta").Interface().(api_v1.ObjectMeta)
+	objectMetaB := reflect.ValueOf(b).Elem().FieldByName("ObjectMeta").Interface().(api_v1.ObjectMeta)
+	specA := reflect.ValueOf(a).Elem().FieldByName("Spec").Interface()
+	specB := reflect.ValueOf(b).Elem().FieldByName("Spec").Interface()
+	return ObjectMetaEquivalent(objectMetaA, objectMetaB) && reflect.DeepEqual(specA, specB)
+}
diff --git a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta_test.go b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta_test.go
index bf1c67758e5..c5638add590 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta_test.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/util/meta_test.go
@@ -65,3 +65,38 @@ func TestObjectMeta(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.True(t, ObjectMetaEquivalent(o5, o6))
 	assert.True(t, ObjectMetaEquivalent(o3, o5))
 }
+
+func TestObjectMetaAndSpec(t *testing.T) {
+	s1 := api_v1.Service{
+		ObjectMeta: api_v1.ObjectMeta{
+			Namespace: "ns1",
+			Name:      "s1",
+		},
+		Spec: api_v1.ServiceSpec{
+			ExternalName: "Service1",
+		},
+	}
+	s1b := s1
+	s2 := api_v1.Service{
+		ObjectMeta: api_v1.ObjectMeta{
+			Namespace: "ns1",
+			Name:      "s2",
+		},
+		Spec: api_v1.ServiceSpec{
+			ExternalName: "Service1",
+		},
+	}
+	s3 := api_v1.Service{
+		ObjectMeta: api_v1.ObjectMeta{
+			Namespace: "ns1",
+			Name:      "s1",
+		},
+		Spec: api_v1.ServiceSpec{
+			ExternalName: "Service2",
+		},
+	}
+	assert.True(t, ObjectMetaAndSpecEquivalent(&s1, &s1b))
+	assert.False(t, ObjectMetaAndSpecEquivalent(&s1, &s2))
+	assert.False(t, ObjectMetaAndSpecEquivalent(&s1, &s3))
+	assert.False(t, ObjectMetaAndSpecEquivalent(&s2, &s3))
+}