diff --git a/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version.go b/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version.go
index acbbc166004..1427a03c666 100644
--- a/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version.go
+++ b/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ type GroupAndVersion struct {
 
 func (gv *GroupAndVersion) String() string {
 	// special case of "v1" for backward compatibility
-	if gv.Group == "" {
+	if gv.Group == "" && gv.Version == "v1" {
 		return gv.Version
 	} else {
 		return gv.Group + "/" + gv.Version
@@ -41,11 +41,12 @@ func ParseGroupVersion(gv string) (GroupAndVersion, error) {
 	s := strings.Split(gv, "/")
 	// "v1" is the only special case. Otherwise GroupVersion is expected to contain
 	// one "/" dividing the string into two parts.
-	if len(s) == 1 && gv == "v1" {
+	switch {
+	case len(s) == 1 && gv == "v1":
 		return GroupAndVersion{"", "v1"}, nil
-	} else if len(s) == 2 {
+	case len(s) == 2:
 		return GroupAndVersion{s[0], s[1]}, nil
-	} else {
+	default:
 		return GroupAndVersion{}, fmt.Errorf("Unexpected GroupVersion string: %v", gv)
 	}
 }
@@ -59,8 +60,7 @@ func (gv GroupAndVersion) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return json.Marshal(s)
 }
 
-// UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaller interface.
-func (gv *GroupAndVersion) UnmarshalJSON(value []byte) error {
+func (gv *GroupAndVersion) unmarshal(value []byte) error {
 	var s string
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(value, &s); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -69,7 +69,16 @@ func (gv *GroupAndVersion) UnmarshalJSON(value []byte) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	gv.Group = parsed.Group
-	gv.Version = parsed.Version
+	*gv = parsed
 	return nil
 }
+
+// UnmarshalJSON implements the json.Unmarshaller interface.
+func (gv *GroupAndVersion) UnmarshalJSON(value []byte) error {
+	return gv.unmarshal(value)
+}
+
+// UnmarshalTEXT implements the Ugorji's encoding.TextUnmarshaler interface.
+func (gv *GroupAndVersion) UnmarshalText(value []byte) error {
+	return gv.unmarshal(value)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version_test.go b/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version_test.go
index daf1c3da779..3c56b469e04 100644
--- a/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/unversioned/group_version_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ugorji/go/codec"
 )
 
 type GroupVersionHolder struct {
@@ -37,11 +39,19 @@ func TestGroupVersionUnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, c := range cases {
 		var result GroupVersionHolder
+		// test golang lib's JSON codec
 		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(c.input), &result); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("Failed to unmarshal input '%v': %v", c.input, err)
+			t.Errorf("JSON codec failed to unmarshal input '%v': %v", c.input, err)
 		}
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(result.GV, c.expect) {
-			t.Errorf("Failed to unmarshal input '%s': expected %+v, got %+v", c.input, c.expect, result.GV)
+			t.Errorf("JSON codec failed to unmarshal input '%s': expected %+v, got %+v", c.input, c.expect, result.GV)
+		}
+		// test the Ugorji codec
+		if err := codec.NewDecoderBytes(c.input, new(codec.JsonHandle)).Decode(&result); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Ugorji codec failed to unmarshal input '%v': %v", c.input, err)
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(result.GV, c.expect) {
+			t.Errorf("Ugorji codec failed to unmarshal input '%s': expected %+v, got %+v", c.input, c.expect, result.GV)
 		}
 	}
 }