diff --git a/hack/test-cmd.sh b/hack/test-cmd.sh
index cd244bcddc1..5da5cba7697 100755
--- a/hack/test-cmd.sh
+++ b/hack/test-cmd.sh
@@ -94,29 +94,39 @@ kube_cmd=(
   "${KUBE_OUTPUT_HOSTBIN}/kubectl"
 )
 kube_api_versions=(
+  ""
   v1beta1
   v1beta2
   v1beta3
 )
 for version in "${kube_api_versions[@]}"; do
-  kube_flags=(
-    -s "http://127.0.0.1:${API_PORT}"
-    --match-server-version
-    --api-version="${version}"
-  )
+  if [[ -z "${version}" ]]; then
+    kube_flags=(
+      -s "http://127.0.0.1:${API_PORT}"
+      --match-server-version
+    )
+    [ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions -t $'{{ .apiVersion }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "v1beta1" ]
+  else
+    kube_flags=(
+      -s "http://127.0.0.1:${API_PORT}"
+      --match-server-version
+      --api-version="${version}"
+    )
+    [ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions -t $'{{ .apiVersion }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "${version}" ]
+  fi
 
   kube::log::status "Testing kubectl(${version}:pods)"
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods "${kube_flags[@]}"
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" create -f examples/guestbook/redis-master.json "${kube_flags[@]}"
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods "${kube_flags[@]}"
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master "${kube_flags[@]}"
-  [[ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master -o template --output-version=v1beta1 -t '{{ .id }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "redis-master" ]]
+  [ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master -o template --output-version=v1beta1 -t '{{ .id }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "redis-master" ]
   output_pod=$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pod redis-master -o json --output-version=v1beta1 "${kube_flags[@]}")
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" delete pod redis-master "${kube_flags[@]}"
   before="$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t "{{ len .items }}" "${kube_flags[@]}")"
   echo $output_pod | "${kube_cmd[@]}" create -f - "${kube_flags[@]}"
   after="$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o template -t "{{ len .items }}" "${kube_flags[@]}")"
-  [[ "$((${after} - ${before}))" -eq 1 ]]
+  [ "$((${after} - ${before}))" -eq 1 ]
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" get pods -o yaml --output-version=v1beta1 "${kube_flags[@]}" | grep -q "id: redis-master"
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" describe pod redis-master "${kube_flags[@]}" | grep -q 'Name:.*redis-master'
   "${kube_cmd[@]}" delete -f examples/guestbook/redis-master.json "${kube_flags[@]}"
@@ -142,6 +152,9 @@ for version in "${kube_api_versions[@]}"; do
     kube::log::status "Testing kubectl(${version}:minions)"
     "${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions "${kube_flags[@]}"
     "${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions 127.0.0.1 "${kube_flags[@]}"
+    "${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions -o template -t $'{{range.items}}{{.id}}\n{{end}}' "${kube_flags[@]}"
+    # TODO: I should be a MinionList instead of List
+    [ "$("${kube_cmd[@]}" get minions -t $'{{ .kind }}' "${kube_flags[@]}")" == "List" ]
   fi
 done
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
index ffaa99d2347..533b5a510db 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -325,17 +325,9 @@ func (c *clientCache) ClientConfigForVersion(version string) (*client.Config, er
 		}
 	}
 
-	// TODO: remove when SetKubernetesDefaults gets added
-	if len(version) == 0 {
-		version = c.defaultConfig.Version
-	}
-
 	// TODO: have a better config copy method
 	config := *c.defaultConfig
-
-	// TODO: call new client.SetKubernetesDefaults method
-	// instead of doing this
-	config.Version = version
+	client.SetKubernetesDefaults(&config)
 	return &config, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/get.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/get.go
index bc9f0d1579b..de43cd32f95 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/get.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/get.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/latest"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/meta"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/resource"
@@ -126,7 +127,15 @@ func RunGet(f *Factory, out io.Writer, cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 
 	if generic {
 		// the outermost object will be converted to the output-version
-		printer = kubectl.NewVersionedPrinter(printer, api.Scheme, outputVersion(cmd))
+		version := outputVersion(cmd)
+		if len(version) == 0 {
+			// TODO: add a new ResourceBuilder mode for Object() that attempts to ensure the objects
+			// are in the appropriate version if one exists (and if not, use the best effort).
+			// TODO: ensure api-version is set with the default preferred api version by the client
+			// builder on initialization
+			version = latest.Version
+		}
+		printer = kubectl.NewVersionedPrinter(printer, api.Scheme, version)
 
 		obj, err := b.Flatten().Do().Object()
 		checkErr(err)
@@ -174,7 +183,14 @@ func printerForMapping(f *Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, mapping *meta.RESTMapping
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if ok {
-		printer = kubectl.NewVersionedPrinter(printer, mapping.ObjectConvertor, outputVersion(cmd))
+		version := outputVersion(cmd)
+		if len(version) == 0 {
+			version = mapping.APIVersion
+		}
+		if len(version) == 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("you must specify an output-version when using this output format")
+		}
+		printer = kubectl.NewVersionedPrinter(printer, mapping.ObjectConvertor, version)
 	} else {
 		printer, err = f.Printer(cmd, mapping, GetFlagBool(cmd, "no-headers"))
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
index eaf9d74d599..c1a47a701d2 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource_printer.go
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ func NewVersionedPrinter(printer ResourcePrinter, convertor runtime.ObjectConver
 
 // PrintObj implements ResourcePrinter
 func (p *VersionedPrinter) PrintObj(obj runtime.Object, w io.Writer) error {
+	if len(p.version) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("no version specified, object cannot be converted")
+	}
 	converted, err := p.convertor.ConvertToVersion(obj, p.version)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err