diff --git a/hack/verify-staging-imports.sh b/hack/verify-staging-imports.sh
index feb21fd0214..fd9d7666a3a 100755
--- a/hack/verify-staging-imports.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-staging-imports.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,14 @@ kube::golang::setup_env
 
 function print_forbidden_imports () {
     set -o errexit # this was unset by ||
-    local PACKAGE="$1"
+    local REPO="${1%%/*}" # everything in front of the /
+
+    # find packages with extended glob support of bash (supports inversion)
+    local PACKAGES=($(
+      shopt -s extglob;
+      eval ls -d -1 ./vendor/k8s.io/${1}/
+    ))
+
     shift
     local RE=""
     local SEP=""
@@ -34,28 +41,28 @@ function print_forbidden_imports () {
         SEP='\|'
     done
     local FORBIDDEN=$(
-        go list -f $'{{with $package := .ImportPath}}{{range $.Imports}}{{$package}} imports {{.}}\n{{end}}{{end}}' ./vendor/k8s.io/${PACKAGE}/... |
+        go list -f $'{{with $package := .ImportPath}}{{range $.Imports}}{{$package}} imports {{.}}\n{{end}}{{end}}' "${PACKAGES[@]/%/...}" |
         sed 's|^k8s.io/kubernetes/vendor/||;s| k8s.io/kubernetes/vendor/| |' |
-        grep -v " k8s.io/${PACKAGE}" |
+        grep -v " k8s.io/${REPO}" |
         grep " k8s.io/" |
         grep -v -e "imports \(${RE}\)"
     )
     if [ -n "${FORBIDDEN}" ]; then
-        echo "${PACKAGE} has a forbidden dependency:"
+        echo "${REPO} has a forbidden dependency:"
         echo
         echo "${FORBIDDEN}" | sed 's/^/  /'
         echo
         return 1
     fi
     local TEST_FORBIDDEN=$(
-        go list -f $'{{with $package := .ImportPath}}{{range $.TestImports}}{{$package}} imports {{.}}\n{{end}}{{end}}' ./vendor/k8s.io/${PACKAGE}/... |
+        go list -f $'{{with $package := .ImportPath}}{{range $.TestImports}}{{$package}} imports {{.}}\n{{end}}{{end}}' "${PACKAGES[@]/%/...}" |
         sed 's|^k8s.io/kubernetes/vendor/||;s| k8s.io/kubernetes/vendor/| |' |
-        grep -v " k8s.io/${PACKAGE}" |
+        grep -v " k8s.io/${REPO}" |
         grep " k8s.io/" |
         grep -v -e "imports \(${RE}\)"
     )
     if [ -n "${TEST_FORBIDDEN}" ]; then
-        echo "${PACKAGE} has a forbidden dependency in test code:"
+        echo "${REPO} has a forbidden dependency in test code:"
         echo
         echo "${TEST_FORBIDDEN}" | sed 's/^/  /'
         echo
@@ -68,6 +75,8 @@ RC=0
 print_forbidden_imports apimachinery k8s.io/kube-openapi || RC=1
 print_forbidden_imports api k8s.io/apimachinery || RC=1
 print_forbidden_imports kube-gen k8s.io/apimachinery k8s.io/client-go k8s.io/gengo k8s.io/kube-openapi || RC=1
+print_forbidden_imports 'kube-gen/!(test)' k8s.io/gengo k8s.io/kube-openapi || RC=1
+print_forbidden_imports kube-gen/test k8s.io/apimachinery k8s.io/client-go || RC=1
 print_forbidden_imports client-go k8s.io/apimachinery k8s.io/api || RC=1
 print_forbidden_imports apiserver k8s.io/apimachinery k8s.io/client-go k8s.io/api k8s.io/kube-openapi || RC=1
 print_forbidden_imports metrics k8s.io/apimachinery k8s.io/client-go k8s.io/api || RC=1