diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
index 2a94c6efc35..a3eeb2f6f14 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -329,17 +329,19 @@ func (c *clientCache) ClientConfigForVersion(version string) (*client.Config, er
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		c.defaultConfig = config
-
 		if c.matchVersion {
 			if err := client.MatchesServerVersion(config); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
 	}
-
 	// TODO: have a better config copy method
 	config := *c.defaultConfig
+	if len(version) != 0 {
+		config.Version = version
+	}
 	client.SetKubernetesDefaults(&config)
+
 	return &config, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd_test.go
index 50dc9315a37..b007a3a30e8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/cmd_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/latest"
@@ -172,3 +173,27 @@ func objBody(codec runtime.Codec, obj runtime.Object) io.ReadCloser {
 func stringBody(body string) io.ReadCloser {
 	return ioutil.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader([]byte(body)))
 }
+
+// Verify that resource.RESTClients constructed from a factory respect mapping.APIVersion
+func TestClientVersions(t *testing.T) {
+	f := NewFactory(nil)
+
+	versions := []string{
+		"v1beta1",
+		"v1beta2",
+		"v1beta3",
+	}
+	for _, version := range versions {
+		mapping := &meta.RESTMapping{
+			APIVersion: version,
+		}
+		c, err := f.RESTClient(nil, mapping)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+		}
+		client := c.(*client.RESTClient)
+		if client.APIVersion() != version {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected Client APIVersion: %s %v", client.APIVersion, client)
+		}
+	}
+}