diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/fieldmanager_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/fieldmanager_test.go
index ed25c8ae3e7..b61965bd4fd 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/fieldmanager_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/fieldmanager_test.go
@@ -817,7 +817,7 @@ func getLastApplied(obj runtime.Object) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("no annotations on obj: %v", obj)
 	}
 
-	lastApplied, ok := annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
+	lastApplied, ok := annotations[internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
 	if !ok {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("expected last applied annotation, but got none for object: %v", obj)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastapplied.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastapplied.go
index 5264c82772f..b00b6b8298a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastapplied.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastapplied.go
@@ -19,12 +19,17 @@ package internal
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	apimachineryvalidation "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/validation"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
+// LastAppliedConfigAnnotation is the annotation used to store the previous
+// configuration of a resource for use in a three way diff by UpdateApplyAnnotation.
+//
+// This is a copy of the corev1 annotation since we don't want to depend on the whole package.
+const LastAppliedConfigAnnotation = "kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration"
+
 // SetLastApplied sets the last-applied annotation the given value in
 // the object.
 func SetLastApplied(obj runtime.Object, value string) error {
@@ -36,9 +41,9 @@ func SetLastApplied(obj runtime.Object, value string) error {
 	if annotations == nil {
 		annotations = map[string]string{}
 	}
-	annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation] = value
+	annotations[LastAppliedConfigAnnotation] = value
 	if err := apimachineryvalidation.ValidateAnnotationsSize(annotations); err != nil {
-		delete(annotations, corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation)
+		delete(annotations, LastAppliedConfigAnnotation)
 	}
 	accessor.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 	return nil
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedmanager.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedmanager.go
index 88675630aae..3f6cf88210c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedmanager.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedmanager.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
@@ -100,7 +99,7 @@ func (f *lastAppliedManager) allowedConflictsFromLastApplied(liveObj runtime.Obj
 	if annotations == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no last applied annotation")
 	}
-	var lastApplied, ok = annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
+	var lastApplied, ok = annotations[LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
 	if !ok || lastApplied == "" {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no last applied annotation")
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater.go
index 0d9320730a1..06e6c5d8ce5 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package internal
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ func hasLastApplied(obj runtime.Object) bool {
 	if annotations == nil {
 		return false
 	}
-	lastApplied, ok := annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
+	lastApplied, ok := annotations[LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
 	return ok && len(lastApplied) > 0
 }
 
@@ -92,7 +91,7 @@ func buildLastApplied(obj runtime.Object) (string, error) {
 
 	// Remove the annotation from the object before encoding the object
 	var annotations = accessor.GetAnnotations()
-	delete(annotations, corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation)
+	delete(annotations, LastAppliedConfigAnnotation)
 	accessor.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 
 	lastApplied, err := runtime.Encode(unstructured.UnstructuredJSONScheme, obj)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater_test.go
index 35d3267fb4e..181f4943c5a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/fieldmanager/internal/lastappliedupdater_test.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestLargeLastApplied(t *testing.T) {
 					Name:      "large-update-test-cm",
 					Namespace: "default",
 					Annotations: map[string]string{
-						corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
+						internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
 					},
 				},
 				Data: map[string]string{"k": "v"},
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func TestLargeLastApplied(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:      "large-update-test-cm",
 						Namespace: "default",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{
-							corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
+							internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
 						},
 					},
 					Data: map[string]string{"k": "v"},
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func TestLargeLastApplied(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:      "large-update-test-cm",
 						Namespace: "default",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{
-							corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
+							internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
 						},
 					},
 					Data: map[string]string{"k": "v"},
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func TestLargeLastApplied(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:      "large-update-test-cm",
 						Namespace: "default",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{
-							corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
+							internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation: "nonempty",
 						},
 					},
 					Data: map[string]string{"k": "v"},
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ func TestLargeLastApplied(t *testing.T) {
 			if annotations == nil {
 				t.Errorf("No annotations on obj: %v", f.Live())
 			}
-			lastApplied, ok := annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
+			lastApplied, ok := annotations[internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
 			if ok || len(lastApplied) > 0 {
 				t.Errorf("Expected no last applied annotation, but got last applied with length: %d", len(lastApplied))
 			}
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func getLastApplied(obj runtime.Object) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("no annotations on obj: %v", obj)
 	}
 
-	lastApplied, ok := annotations[corev1.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
+	lastApplied, ok := annotations[internal.LastAppliedConfigAnnotation]
 	if !ok {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("expected last applied annotation, but got none for object: %v", obj)
 	}