diff --git a/hack/.golint_failures b/hack/.golint_failures
index e1d1b3b73e6..fac2294ed0d 100644
--- a/hack/.golint_failures
+++ b/hack/.golint_failures
@@ -500,7 +500,6 @@ plugin/pkg/scheduler/metrics
 plugin/pkg/scheduler/schedulercache
 plugin/pkg/scheduler/testing
 plugin/pkg/scheduler/util
-staging
 staging/src/k8s.io/api/admission/v1alpha1
 staging/src/k8s.io/api/admissionregistration/v1alpha1
 staging/src/k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta1
diff --git a/hack/update-staging-godeps-dockerized.sh b/hack/update-staging-godeps-dockerized.sh
index bf4bbea8bba..6733914e14e 100755
--- a/hack/update-staging-godeps-dockerized.sh
+++ b/hack/update-staging-godeps-dockerized.sh
@@ -75,8 +75,26 @@ function updateGodepManifest() {
     rm -rf Godeps # remove the current Godeps.json so we always rebuild it
     GOPATH="${TMP_GOPATH}:${GOPATH}:${GOPATH}/src/k8s.io/kubernetes/staging" godep save ${GODEP_OPTS} ./... 2>&1 | sed 's/^/  /'
 
-    # Rewriting Godeps.json to remove commits that don't really exist because we haven't pushed the prereqs yet
-    go run "${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/godeps-json-updater.go" --godeps-file="${TMP_GOPATH}/src/k8s.io/${repo}/Godeps/Godeps.json" --override-import-path="k8s.io/${repo}"
+    # Rewriting Godeps.json to cross-out commits that don't really exist because we haven't pushed the prereqs yet
+    local repo
+    for repo in $(ls -1 ${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io); do
+      # remove staging prefix
+      jq '.Deps |= map(.ImportPath |= ltrimstr("k8s.io/kubernetes/staging/src/"))' Godeps/Godeps.json |
+
+        # x-out staging repo revisions. They will only be known when the publisher bot has created the final export.
+        # We keep the staging dependencies in here though to give the publisher bot a way to detect when the staging
+        # dependencies changed. If they have changed, the bot will run a complete godep restore+save. If they didn't
+        # it will avoid that step, which takes quite some time.
+        jq '.Deps |= map((select(.ImportPath | (startswith("k8s.io/'${repo}'/") or . == "k8s.io/'${repo}'")) | .Rev |= "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx") // .)' |
+
+        # remove comments
+        jq 'del(.Deps[].Comment)' |
+
+        # format with tabs
+        unexpand --first-only --tabs=2 > Godeps/Godeps.json.out
+
+      mv Godeps/Godeps.json.out Godeps/Godeps.json
+    done
 
     # commit so that following repos do not see this repo as dirty
     git add vendor >/dev/null
diff --git a/staging/godeps-json-updater.go b/staging/godeps-json-updater.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 56c2b2bbd31..00000000000
--- a/staging/godeps-json-updater.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2016 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package main
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-	"log"
-	"os"
-	"strings"
-
-	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
-)
-
-var (
-	godepsFile         = flag.String("godeps-file", "", "absolute path to Godeps.json")
-	overrideImportPath = flag.String("override-import-path", "", "import path to be written into the Godeps.json, e.g., k8s.io/client-go")
-	ignoredPrefixes    = flag.StringSlice("ignored-prefixes", []string{"k8s.io/"}, "any godep entry prefixed with the ignored-prefix will be deleted from Godeps.json")
-	rewrittenPrefixes  = flag.StringSlice("rewritten-prefixes", []string{}, fmt.Sprintf("any godep entry prefixed with the rewritten-prefix will be filled will dummy rev %q; overridden by ignored-prefixes", dummyRev))
-)
-
-const dummyRev = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
-
-type Dependency struct {
-	ImportPath string
-	Rev        string
-}
-
-type Godeps struct {
-	ImportPath   string
-	GoVersion    string
-	GodepVersion string
-	Packages     []string `json:",omitempty"` // Arguments to save, if any.
-	Deps         []Dependency
-}
-
-// rewrites the Godeps.ImportPath, removes the Deps whose ImportPath contains "k8s.io/kubernetes" or "k8s.io/apimachinery".
-// entries for k8s.io/apimahinery will be written by the publishing robot before publishing to the repository.
-func main() {
-	flag.Parse()
-	var g Godeps
-	if len(*godepsFile) == 0 {
-		log.Fatalf("absolute path to Godeps.json is required")
-	}
-	f, err := os.OpenFile(*godepsFile, os.O_RDWR, 0666)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("cannot open file %q: %v", *godepsFile, err)
-	}
-	defer f.Close()
-	err = json.NewDecoder(f).Decode(&g)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Unable to parse %q: %v", *godepsFile, err)
-	}
-	if len(*overrideImportPath) != 0 {
-		g.ImportPath = *overrideImportPath
-	}
-	// removes the Deps whose ImportPath contains "k8s.io/kubernetes"
-	i := 0
-	for _, dep := range g.Deps {
-		ignored := false
-		for _, ignoredPrefix := range *ignoredPrefixes {
-			if strings.HasPrefix(dep.ImportPath, ignoredPrefix) {
-				ignored = true
-			}
-		}
-		if ignored {
-			continue
-		}
-		rewritten := false
-		for _, rewrittenPrefix := range *rewrittenPrefixes {
-			if strings.HasPrefix(dep.ImportPath, rewrittenPrefix) {
-				rewritten = true
-			}
-		}
-		if rewritten {
-			dep.Rev = dummyRev
-		}
-		g.Deps[i] = dep
-		i++
-	}
-	g.Deps = g.Deps[:i]
-	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(g, "", "\t")
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	n, err := f.WriteAt(append(b, '\n'), 0)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	if err := f.Truncate(int64(n)); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/staging/prime-apimachinery.sh b/staging/prime-apimachinery.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index c9d4e96fb11..00000000000
--- a/staging/prime-apimachinery.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,81 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2016 The Kubernetes Authors.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-set -o errexit
-set -o nounset
-set -o pipefail
-
-KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
-source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
-
-kube::golang::setup_env
-
-dir=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp/}$(basename 0).XXXXXXXXXXXX")
-echo ${dir}
-
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apimachinery/registered > ${dir}/packages.txt
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer/yaml >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer/streaming >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer/recognizer/testing >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-go list -f {{.Deps}} k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apimachinery/registered | sed -e 's/ /\n/g' - | grep k8s.io | grep -v vendor >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-go list -f {{.Deps}} k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer | sed -e 's/ /\n/g' - | grep k8s.io | grep -v vendor >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-go list -f {{.Deps}} k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer/yaml | sed -e 's/ /\n/g' - | grep k8s.io | grep -v vendor >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-go list -f {{.Deps}} k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime/serializer/streaming | sed -e 's/ /\n/g' - | grep k8s.io | grep -v vendor >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-# used by tests
-echo k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/diff >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-go list -f {{.Deps}} k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/diff | sed -e 's/ /\n/g' - | grep k8s.io | grep -v vendor >> ${dir}/packages.txt
-LC_ALL=C sort -u -o ${dir}/packages.txt ${dir}/packages.txt
-
-echo "moving these packages"
-cat ${dir}/packages.txt
-
-# copy all the packages over
-while read package; do
-	unprefix_package=$(echo ${package} | sed 's|k8s.io/kubernetes/||g')
-	mkdir -p ${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/${unprefix_package}
-	cp ${KUBE_ROOT}/${unprefix_package}/* ${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/${unprefix_package} || true
-done <${dir}/packages.txt
-
-# need to remove the bazel files or bazel fails when this moves into vendor
-find ${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery -name BUILD | xargs rm
-
-# need to rewrite all the package imports for k8s.io/kuberentes to k8s.io/apimachinery
-find ${KUBE_ROOT}/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery -name "*.go" | xargs sed -i 's|k8s.io/kubernetes|k8s.io/apimachinery|g'
-
-# need to rewrite all the package imports for these packages in the main repo to use the vendored copy
-while read package; do
-	echo "rewriting import for ${package}"
-	new_package=$(echo ${package} | sed 's|k8s.io/kubernetes|k8s.io/apimachinery|g')
-	find ${KUBE_ROOT}/cmd ${KUBE_ROOT}/examples ${KUBE_ROOT}/federation ${KUBE_ROOT}/pkg ${KUBE_ROOT}/plugin ${KUBE_ROOT}/test -name "*.go" | xargs sed -i "s|${package}\"|${new_package}\"|g"
-done <${dir}/packages.txt
-
-# we don't want to rewrite imports for the packages we're modifying.  So check those back out, but only the files directly in that directory, not subdirs
-# also, add .readonly files to each folder we moved
-while read package; do
-	unprefix_package=$(echo ${package} | sed 's|k8s.io/kubernetes/||g')
-	find ${unprefix_package} -type f -maxdepth 1 | xargs git checkout
-	touch ${unprefix_package}/.readonly
-done <${dir}/packages.txt
-
-# this file generates something or other, but we don't want to accidentally have it generate into an apimachinery package
-git checkout vendor/k8s.io/code-generator/cmd/set-gen/main.go
-
-
-# now run gofmt to get the sorting right
-echo "running gofmt"
-gofmt -s -w ${KUBE_ROOT}/cmd ${KUBE_ROOT}/examples ${KUBE_ROOT}/federation ${KUBE_ROOT}/pkg ${KUBE_ROOT}/plugin ${KUBE_ROOT}/test 
-