diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
index 4dd515d33fe..7dade01b9c3 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/common.go
@@ -80,8 +80,6 @@ func applyDefaults(pod *api.Pod, source string, isFile bool, nodeName types.Node
 	// Set the Host field to indicate this pod is scheduled on the current node.
 	pod.Spec.NodeName = string(nodeName)
 
-	pod.ObjectMeta.SelfLink = getSelfLink(pod.Name, pod.Namespace)
-
 	if pod.Annotations == nil {
 		pod.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
 	}
@@ -102,15 +100,6 @@ func applyDefaults(pod *api.Pod, source string, isFile bool, nodeName types.Node
 	return nil
 }
 
-func getSelfLink(name, namespace string) string {
-	var selfLink string
-	if len(namespace) == 0 {
-		namespace = metav1.NamespaceDefault
-	}
-	selfLink = fmt.Sprintf("/api/v1/namespaces/%s/pods/%s", namespace, name)
-	return selfLink
-}
-
 type defaultFunc func(pod *api.Pod) error
 
 // tryDecodeSinglePod takes data and tries to extract valid Pod config information from it.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go
index 00cbc4d7ca3..008fd8fc577 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/common_test.go
@@ -186,34 +186,6 @@ func TestDecodePodList(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestGetSelfLink(t *testing.T) {
-	var testCases = []struct {
-		desc             string
-		name             string
-		namespace        string
-		expectedSelfLink string
-	}{
-		{
-			desc:             "No namespace specified",
-			name:             "foo",
-			namespace:        "",
-			expectedSelfLink: "/api/v1/namespaces/default/pods/foo",
-		},
-		{
-			desc:             "Namespace specified",
-			name:             "foo",
-			namespace:        "bar",
-			expectedSelfLink: "/api/v1/namespaces/bar/pods/foo",
-		},
-	}
-	for _, testCase := range testCases {
-		selfLink := getSelfLink(testCase.name, testCase.namespace)
-		if testCase.expectedSelfLink != selfLink {
-			t.Errorf("%s: getSelfLink error, expected: %s, got: %s", testCase.desc, testCase.expectedSelfLink, selfLink)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestStaticPodNameGenerate(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		nodeName  types.NodeName
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/file_linux_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/file_linux_test.go
index 1d234c226de..bcc97de1754 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/file_linux_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/file_linux_test.go
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ func getTestCases(hostname types.NodeName) []*testCase {
 					UID:         "12345",
 					Namespace:   "mynamespace",
 					Annotations: map[string]string{kubetypes.ConfigHashAnnotationKey: "12345"},
-					SelfLink:    getSelfLink("test-"+string(hostname), "mynamespace"),
 				},
 				Spec: v1.PodSpec{
 					NodeName:                      string(hostname),
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
index e99f5ac961d..879accb770d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/http_test.go
@@ -164,7 +164,6 @@ func TestExtractPodsFromHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:        "foo" + "-" + nodeName,
 						Namespace:   "mynamespace",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{kubetypes.ConfigHashAnnotationKey: "111"},
-						SelfLink:    getSelfLink("foo-"+nodeName, "mynamespace"),
 					},
 					Spec: v1.PodSpec{
 						NodeName:                      nodeName,
@@ -236,7 +235,6 @@ func TestExtractPodsFromHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:        "foo" + "-" + nodeName,
 						Namespace:   "default",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{kubetypes.ConfigHashAnnotationKey: "111"},
-						SelfLink:    getSelfLink("foo-"+nodeName, metav1.NamespaceDefault),
 					},
 					Spec: v1.PodSpec{
 						NodeName:                      nodeName,
@@ -265,7 +263,6 @@ func TestExtractPodsFromHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 						Name:        "bar" + "-" + nodeName,
 						Namespace:   "default",
 						Annotations: map[string]string{kubetypes.ConfigHashAnnotationKey: "222"},
-						SelfLink:    getSelfLink("bar-"+nodeName, metav1.NamespaceDefault),
 					},
 					Spec: v1.PodSpec{
 						NodeName:                      nodeName,
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref.go
index 3d366dc188c..e4f860378a1 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref.go
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@ var ImplicitContainerPrefix = "implicitly required container "
 // GenerateContainerRef returns an *v1.ObjectReference which references the given container
 // within the given pod. Returns an error if the reference can't be constructed or the
 // container doesn't actually belong to the pod.
-//
-// This function will return an error if the provided Pod does not have a selfLink,
-// but we expect selfLink to be populated at all call sites for the function.
 func GenerateContainerRef(pod *v1.Pod, container *v1.Container) (*v1.ObjectReference, error) {
 	fieldPath, err := fieldPath(pod, container)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
index 3d05cf1e138..a10ba5268ef 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ func TestGenerateContainerRef(t *testing.T) {
 				Namespace:       "test-ns",
 				UID:             "bar",
 				ResourceVersion: "42",
-				SelfLink:        "/api/v1/pods/foo",
 			},
 			Spec: v1.PodSpec{
 				Containers: []v1.Container{
@@ -85,13 +84,7 @@ func TestGenerateContainerRef(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		}
-		noSelfLinkPod        = okPod
-		defaultedSelfLinkPod = okPod
 	)
-	noSelfLinkPod.Kind = ""
-	noSelfLinkPod.APIVersion = ""
-	noSelfLinkPod.ObjectMeta.SelfLink = ""
-	defaultedSelfLinkPod.ObjectMeta.SelfLink = "/api/v1/pods/ok"
 
 	cases := []struct {
 		name      string
@@ -132,23 +125,6 @@ func TestGenerateContainerRef(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			success: true,
 		},
-		{
-			name: "defaulted-selflink",
-			pod:  &defaultedSelfLinkPod,
-			container: &v1.Container{
-				Name: "by-name",
-			},
-			expected: &v1.ObjectReference{
-				Kind:            "Pod",
-				APIVersion:      "v1",
-				Name:            "ok",
-				Namespace:       "test-ns",
-				UID:             "bar",
-				ResourceVersion: "42",
-				FieldPath:       ".spec.containers{by-name}",
-			},
-			success: true,
-		},
 		{
 			name: "implicitly-required",
 			pod:  &okPod,
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/images/image_manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/images/image_manager_test.go
index 82b3a4709e4..daaba231c00 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/images/image_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/images/image_manager_test.go
@@ -187,7 +187,6 @@ func TestParallelPuller(t *testing.T) {
 			Namespace:       "test-ns",
 			UID:             "bar",
 			ResourceVersion: "42",
-			SelfLink:        "/api/v1/pods/foo",
 		}}
 
 	cases := pullerTestCases()
@@ -215,7 +214,6 @@ func TestSerializedPuller(t *testing.T) {
 			Namespace:       "test-ns",
 			UID:             "bar",
 			ResourceVersion: "42",
-			SelfLink:        "/api/v1/pods/foo",
 		}}
 
 	cases := pullerTestCases()
@@ -264,7 +262,6 @@ func TestPullAndListImageWithPodAnnotations(t *testing.T) {
 			Namespace:       "test-ns",
 			UID:             "bar",
 			ResourceVersion: "42",
-			SelfLink:        "/api/v1/pods/foo",
 			Annotations: map[string]string{
 				"kubernetes.io/runtimehandler": "handler_name",
 			},
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig/checkpoint/download.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig/checkpoint/download.go
index 1b2a3c852ad..e5771ff7b2d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig/checkpoint/download.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubeletconfig/checkpoint/download.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ type RemoteConfigSource interface {
 	// KubeletFilename returns the name of the Kubelet config file as it should appear in the keys of Payload.Files()
 	KubeletFilename() string
 
-	// APIPath returns the API path to the remote resource, e.g. its SelfLink
+	// APIPath returns the API path to the remote resource.
 	APIPath() string
 
 	// UID returns the globally unique identifier for the most recently downloaded payload targeted by the source.