diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher.go
index 9832b5b0f0b..42b81c7f703 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher.go
@@ -30,52 +30,79 @@ import (
 // ResultFunc is a function that returns a rest result and can be run in a goroutine
 type ResultFunc func() (runtime.Object, error)
 
+// result stores the return values or panic from a ResultFunc function
+type result struct {
+	// object stores the response returned by the ResultFunc function
+	object runtime.Object
+	// err stores the error returned by the ResultFunc function
+	err error
+	// reason stores the reason from a panic thrown by the ResultFunc function
+	reason interface{}
+}
+
+// Return processes the result returned by a ResultFunc function
+func (r *result) Return() (runtime.Object, error) {
+	switch {
+	case r.reason != nil:
+		// panic has higher precedence, the goroutine executing ResultFunc has panic'd,
+		// so propagate a panic to the caller.
+		panic(r.reason)
+	case r.err != nil:
+		return nil, r.err
+	default:
+		// if we are here, it means neither a panic, nor an error
+		if status, ok := r.object.(*metav1.Status); ok {
+			// An api.Status object with status != success is considered an "error",
+			// which interrupts the normal response flow.
+			if status.Status != metav1.StatusSuccess {
+				return nil, errors.FromObject(status)
+			}
+		}
+		return r.object, nil
+	}
+}
+
 // FinishRequest makes a given ResultFunc asynchronous and handles errors returned by the response.
-// An api.Status object with status != success is considered an "error", which interrupts the normal response flow.
-func FinishRequest(ctx context.Context, fn ResultFunc) (result runtime.Object, err error) {
-	// these channels need to be buffered to prevent the goroutine below from hanging indefinitely
+func FinishRequest(ctx context.Context, fn ResultFunc) (runtime.Object, error) {
+	// the channel needs to be buffered to prevent the goroutine below from hanging indefinitely
 	// when the select statement reads something other than the one the goroutine sends on.
-	ch := make(chan runtime.Object, 1)
-	errCh := make(chan error, 1)
-	panicCh := make(chan interface{}, 1)
+	resultCh := make(chan *result, 1)
+
 	go func() {
+		result := &result{}
+
 		// panics don't cross goroutine boundaries, so we have to handle ourselves
 		defer func() {
-			panicReason := recover()
-			if panicReason != nil {
+			reason := recover()
+			if reason != nil {
 				// do not wrap the sentinel ErrAbortHandler panic value
-				if panicReason != http.ErrAbortHandler {
+				if reason != http.ErrAbortHandler {
 					// Same as stdlib http server code. Manually allocate stack
 					// trace buffer size to prevent excessively large logs
 					const size = 64 << 10
 					buf := make([]byte, size)
 					buf = buf[:goruntime.Stack(buf, false)]
-					panicReason = fmt.Sprintf("%v\n%s", panicReason, buf)
+					reason = fmt.Sprintf("%v\n%s", reason, buf)
 				}
-				// Propagate to parent goroutine
-				panicCh <- panicReason
+
+				// store the panic reason into the result.
+				result.reason = reason
 			}
+
+			// Propagate the result to the parent goroutine
+			resultCh <- result
 		}()
 
-		if result, err := fn(); err != nil {
-			errCh <- err
+		if object, err := fn(); err != nil {
+			result.err = err
 		} else {
-			ch <- result
+			result.object = object
 		}
 	}()
 
 	select {
-	case result = <-ch:
-		if status, ok := result.(*metav1.Status); ok {
-			if status.Status != metav1.StatusSuccess {
-				return nil, errors.FromObject(status)
-			}
-		}
-		return result, nil
-	case err = <-errCh:
-		return nil, err
-	case p := <-panicCh:
-		panic(p)
+	case result := <-resultCh:
+		return result.Return()
 	case <-ctx.Done():
 		return nil, errors.NewTimeoutError(fmt.Sprintf("request did not complete within requested timeout %s", ctx.Err()), 0)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher_test.go
index 24aa6ffe83c..f4e667aaf6c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/finisher/finisher_test.go
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@ func TestFinishRequest(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedObj: nil,
 			expectedErr: exampleErr,
 		},
+		{
+			name:    "No expected error or object or panic",
+			timeout: timeoutFunc,
+			fn: func() (runtime.Object, error) {
+				return nil, nil
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:    "Successful status object is returned as expected",
 			timeout: timeoutFunc,