diff --git a/pkg/api/rest/update.go b/pkg/api/rest/update.go
index cebfeccaaab..8f08d49b23c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/rest/update.go
+++ b/pkg/api/rest/update.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package rest
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/validation"
@@ -53,19 +55,19 @@ type RESTUpdateStrategy interface {
 }
 
 // TODO: add other common fields that require global validation.
-func validateCommonFields(obj, old runtime.Object) field.ErrorList {
+func validateCommonFields(obj, old runtime.Object) (field.ErrorList, error) {
 	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
 	objectMeta, err := api.ObjectMetaFor(obj)
 	if err != nil {
-		return append(allErrs, field.InternalError(field.NewPath("metadata"), err))
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get new object metadata: %v", err)
 	}
 	oldObjectMeta, err := api.ObjectMetaFor(old)
 	if err != nil {
-		return append(allErrs, field.InternalError(field.NewPath("metadata"), err))
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get old object metadata: %v", err)
 	}
 	allErrs = append(allErrs, validation.ValidateObjectMetaUpdate(objectMeta, oldObjectMeta, field.NewPath("metadata"))...)
 
-	return allErrs
+	return allErrs, nil
 }
 
 // BeforeUpdate ensures that common operations for all resources are performed on update. It only returns
@@ -87,7 +89,10 @@ func BeforeUpdate(strategy RESTUpdateStrategy, ctx api.Context, obj, old runtime
 	strategy.PrepareForUpdate(obj, old)
 
 	// Ensure some common fields, like UID, are validated for all resources.
-	errs := validateCommonFields(obj, old)
+	errs, err := validateCommonFields(obj, old)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.NewInternalError(err)
+	}
 
 	errs = append(errs, strategy.ValidateUpdate(ctx, obj, old)...)
 	if len(errs) > 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/registry/pod/etcd/etcd.go b/pkg/registry/pod/etcd/etcd.go
index 1ed940df2ce..90e799f870e 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/pod/etcd/etcd.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/pod/etcd/etcd.go
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func (r *BindingREST) Create(ctx api.Context, obj runtime.Object) (out runtime.O
 	// TODO: move me to a binding strategy
 	if len(binding.Target.Kind) != 0 && binding.Target.Kind != "Node" {
 		// TODO: When validation becomes versioned, this gets more complicated.
-		return nil, errors.NewInvalid("binding", binding.Name, field.ErrorList{field.NotSupported(field.NewPath("target", "kind"), binding.Target.Kind, []string{"Node", ""})})
+		return nil, errors.NewInvalid("binding", binding.Name, field.ErrorList{field.NotSupported(field.NewPath("target", "kind"), binding.Target.Kind, []string{"Node", "<empty>"})})
 	}
 	if len(binding.Target.Name) == 0 {
 		// TODO: When validation becomes versioned, this gets more complicated.