diff --git a/pkg/client/client_test.go b/pkg/client/client_test.go
index 2a2fbaa0b3f..46809e93c17 100644
--- a/pkg/client/client_test.go
+++ b/pkg/client/client_test.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (c *testClient) Validate(t *testing.T, received runtime.Object, err error)
 	c.ValidateCommon(t, err)
 
 	if c.Response.Body != nil && !reflect.DeepEqual(c.Response.Body, received) {
-		t.Errorf("bad response for request %#v: expected %s, got %s", c.Request, c.Response.Body, received)
+		t.Errorf("bad response for request %#v: expected %#v, got %#v", c.Request, c.Response.Body, received)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func (c *testClient) ValidateRaw(t *testing.T, received []byte, err error) {
 	c.ValidateCommon(t, err)
 
 	if c.Response.Body != nil && !reflect.DeepEqual(c.Response.Body, received) {
-		t.Errorf("bad response for request %#v: expected %s, got %s", c.Request, c.Response.Body, received)
+		t.Errorf("bad response for request %#v: expected %#v, got %#v", c.Request, c.Response.Body, received)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/replication_controller.go b/pkg/controller/replication_controller.go
index a6d5e8c5f98..7481e74f93f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/replication_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/replication_controller.go
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ func (r RealPodControl) createReplica(namespace string, controller api.Replicati
 		glog.Errorf("Unable to convert pod template: %v", err)
 		return
 	}
+	if labels.Set(pod.Labels).AsSelector().Empty() {
+		glog.Errorf("Unable to create pod replica, no labels")
+		return
+	}
 	if _, err := r.kubeClient.Pods(namespace).Create(pod); err != nil {
 		glog.Errorf("Unable to create pod replica: %v", err)
 	}