diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
index 3260627441a..12608d47772 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
@@ -988,6 +988,21 @@ __EOF__
   # Clean up
   kubectl delete pods test-pod "${kube_flags[@]}"
 
+
+  ## kubectl apply -f with label selector should only apply matching objects
+  # Pre-Condition: no POD exists
+  kube::test::get_object_assert pods "{{range.items}}{{$id_field}}:{{end}}" ''
+  # apply
+  kubectl apply -l unique-label=bingbang -f hack/testdata/filter "${kube_flags[@]}"
+  # check right pod exists
+  kube::test::get_object_assert 'pods selector-test-pod' "{{${labels_field}.name}}" 'selector-test-pod'
+  # check wrong pod doesn't exist
+  output_message=$(! kubectl get pods selector-test-pod-dont-apply 2>&1 "${kube_flags[@]}")
+  kube::test::if_has_string "${output_message}" 'pods "selector-test-pod-dont-apply" not found'
+  # cleanup
+  kubectl delete pods selector-test-pod
+
+
   ## kubectl run should create deployments or jobs
   # Pre-Condition: no Job exists
   kube::test::get_object_assert jobs "{{range.items}}{{$id_field}}:{{end}}" ''
diff --git a/hack/testdata/filter/pod-apply-selector.yaml b/hack/testdata/filter/pod-apply-selector.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..73b83d6ba37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/testdata/filter/pod-apply-selector.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: selector-test-pod
+  labels:
+    name: selector-test-pod
+    unique-label: bingbang
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - name: kubernetes-pause
+    image: gcr.io/google-containers/pause:2.0
diff --git a/hack/testdata/filter/pod-dont-apply.yaml b/hack/testdata/filter/pod-dont-apply.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7ea1610de90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/testdata/filter/pod-dont-apply.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: selector-test-pod-dont-apply
+  labels:
+    name: selector-test-pod-dont-apply
+    unique-label: biz
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - name: kubernetes-pause
+    image: gcr.io/google-containers/pause:2.0