diff --git a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemoncontroller.go b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemoncontroller.go
index 05f4acb8583..1b5d34c94b2 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/daemon/daemoncontroller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/daemon/daemoncontroller.go
@@ -354,16 +354,17 @@ func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // up. If the labels of the pod have changed we need to awaken both the old
 // and new set. old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known pods.
+	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
+	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
 		return
 	}
-	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	glog.V(4).Infof("Pod %s updated.", curPod.Name)
 	if curDS := dsc.getPodDaemonSet(curPod); curDS != nil {
 		dsc.enqueueDaemonSet(curDS)
 	}
-	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
 	// If the labels have not changed, then the daemon set responsible for
 	// the pod is the same as it was before. In that case we have enqueued the daemon
 	// set above, and do not have to enqueue the set again.
@@ -427,8 +428,8 @@ func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) addNode(obj interface{}) {
 func (dsc *DaemonSetsController) updateNode(old, cur interface{}) {
 	oldNode := old.(*api.Node)
 	curNode := cur.(*api.Node)
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldNode.Name, curNode.Name) && api.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldNode.Namespace, curNode.Namespace) && api.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldNode.Labels, curNode.Labels) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known pods.
+	if reflect.DeepEqual(oldNode.Labels, curNode.Labels) {
+		// If node labels didn't change, we can ignore this update.
 		return
 	}
 	dsList, err := dsc.dsStore.List()
diff --git a/pkg/controller/deployment/deployment_controller.go b/pkg/controller/deployment/deployment_controller.go
index c20e23c404a..d4148e81bd9 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/deployment/deployment_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/deployment/deployment_controller.go
@@ -272,19 +272,20 @@ func (dc *DeploymentController) getDeploymentForReplicaSet(rs *extensions.Replic
 // awaken both the old and new deployments. old and cur must be *extensions.ReplicaSet
 // types.
 func (dc *DeploymentController) updateReplicaSet(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known controllers.
+	curRS := cur.(*extensions.ReplicaSet)
+	oldRS := old.(*extensions.ReplicaSet)
+	if curRS.ResourceVersion == oldRS.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known replica sets.
+		// Two different versions of the same replica set will always have different RVs.
 		return
 	}
 	// TODO: Write a unittest for this case
-	curRS := cur.(*extensions.ReplicaSet)
 	glog.V(4).Infof("ReplicaSet %s updated.", curRS.Name)
 	if d := dc.getDeploymentForReplicaSet(curRS); d != nil {
 		dc.enqueueDeployment(d)
 	}
 	// A number of things could affect the old deployment: labels changing,
 	// pod template changing, etc.
-	oldRS := old.(*extensions.ReplicaSet)
 	if !api.Semantic.DeepEqual(oldRS, curRS) {
 		if oldD := dc.getDeploymentForReplicaSet(oldRS); oldD != nil {
 			dc.enqueueDeployment(oldD)
@@ -354,11 +355,13 @@ func (dc *DeploymentController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // is updated and wake them up. If anything of the Pods have changed, we need to awaken both
 // the old and new deployments. old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (dc *DeploymentController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		return
-	}
 	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
+		return
+	}
 	glog.V(4).Infof("Pod %s updated %#v -> %#v.", curPod.Name, oldPod, curPod)
 	if d := dc.getDeploymentForPod(curPod); d != nil {
 		dc.enqueueDeployment(d)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/endpoint/endpoints_controller.go b/pkg/controller/endpoint/endpoints_controller.go
index 3127db3ba94..4dfa6619ce5 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/endpoint/endpoints_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/endpoint/endpoints_controller.go
@@ -210,17 +210,19 @@ func (e *EndpointController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // and what services it will be a member of, and enqueue the union of these.
 // old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (e *EndpointController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
+	newPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
+	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if newPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
 		return
 	}
-	newPod := old.(*api.Pod)
 	services, err := e.getPodServiceMemberships(newPod)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Errorf("Unable to get pod %v/%v's service memberships: %v", newPod.Namespace, newPod.Name, err)
 		return
 	}
 
-	oldPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	// Only need to get the old services if the labels changed.
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(newPod.Labels, oldPod.Labels) ||
 		!hostNameAndDomainAreEqual(newPod, oldPod) {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/job/jobcontroller.go b/pkg/controller/job/jobcontroller.go
index 6e6b1b3691f..360e07332ca 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/job/jobcontroller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/job/jobcontroller.go
@@ -197,11 +197,13 @@ func (jm *JobController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // If the labels of the pod have changed we need to awaken both the old
 // and new job. old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (jm *JobController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known pods.
+	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
+	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
 		return
 	}
-	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	if curPod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
 		// when a pod is deleted gracefully it's deletion timestamp is first modified to reflect a grace period,
 		// and after such time has passed, the kubelet actually deletes it from the store. We receive an update
@@ -213,7 +215,6 @@ func (jm *JobController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
 	if job := jm.getPodJob(curPod); job != nil {
 		jm.enqueueController(job)
 	}
-	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
 	// Only need to get the old job if the labels changed.
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(curPod.Labels, oldPod.Labels) {
 		// If the old and new job are the same, the first one that syncs
diff --git a/pkg/controller/petset/pet_set.go b/pkg/controller/petset/pet_set.go
index bc03a9a452b..d15688d6ccd 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/petset/pet_set.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/petset/pet_set.go
@@ -166,11 +166,13 @@ func (psc *PetSetController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // updatePod adds the petset for the current and old pods to the sync queue.
 // If the labels of the pod didn't change, this method enqueues a single petset.
 func (psc *PetSetController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		return
-	}
 	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
+		return
+	}
 	ps := psc.getPetSetForPod(curPod)
 	if ps == nil {
 		return
diff --git a/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set.go b/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set.go
index 976cb545bfb..5cc31366b45 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set.go
@@ -352,12 +352,13 @@ func (rsc *ReplicaSetController) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // up. If the labels of the pod have changed we need to awaken both the old
 // and new replica set. old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (rsc *ReplicaSetController) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known pods.
-		return
-	}
 	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
+		return
+	}
 	glog.V(4).Infof("Pod %s updated, objectMeta %+v -> %+v.", curPod.Name, oldPod.ObjectMeta, curPod.ObjectMeta)
 	labelChanged := !reflect.DeepEqual(curPod.Labels, oldPod.Labels)
 	if curPod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set_test.go b/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set_test.go
index 7f1e7a00da7..31a2ce30e04 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/replicaset/replica_set_test.go
@@ -565,8 +565,10 @@ func TestUpdatePods(t *testing.T) {
 	// then update its labels to match testRSSpec2.  We expect to receive a sync
 	// request for both replica sets.
 	pod1 := newPodList(manager.podStore.Indexer, 1, api.PodRunning, labelMap1, testRSSpec1, "pod").Items[0]
+	pod1.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	pod2 := pod1
 	pod2.Labels = labelMap2
+	pod2.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&pod1, &pod2)
 	expected := sets.NewString(testRSSpec1.Name, testRSSpec2.Name)
 	for _, name := range expected.List() {
@@ -585,6 +587,7 @@ func TestUpdatePods(t *testing.T) {
 	// its labels to match no replica set. We expect to receive a sync request
 	// for testRSSpec1.
 	pod2.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+	pod2.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&pod1, &pod2)
 	expected = sets.NewString(testRSSpec1.Name)
 	for _, name := range expected.List() {
@@ -991,6 +994,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	pod := newPodList(nil, 1, api.PodPending, labelMap, rs, "pod").Items[0]
 	pod.DeletionTimestamp = &unversioned.Time{Time: time.Now()}
+	pod.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rsKey, []string{controller.PodKey(&pod)})
 
 	// A pod added with a deletion timestamp should decrement deletions, not creations.
@@ -1010,6 +1014,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	// An update from no deletion timestamp to having one should be treated
 	// as a deletion.
 	oldPod := newPodList(nil, 1, api.PodPending, labelMap, rs, "pod").Items[0]
+	oldPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rsKey, []string{controller.PodKey(&pod)})
 	manager.updatePod(&oldPod, &pod)
 
@@ -1035,6 +1040,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rsKey, []string{controller.PodKey(secondPod)})
 	oldPod.DeletionTimestamp = &unversioned.Time{Time: time.Now()}
+	oldPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&oldPod, &pod)
 
 	podExp, exists, err = manager.expectations.GetExpectations(rsKey)
@@ -1182,12 +1188,14 @@ func TestUpdateLabelsRemoveControllerRef(t *testing.T) {
 	manager.rsStore.Store.Add(rs)
 	// put one pod in the podStore
 	pod := newPod("pod", rs, api.PodRunning)
+	pod.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	var trueVar = true
 	rsOwnerReference := api.OwnerReference{UID: rs.UID, APIVersion: "v1beta1", Kind: "ReplicaSet", Name: rs.Name, Controller: &trueVar}
 	pod.OwnerReferences = []api.OwnerReference{rsOwnerReference}
 	updatedPod := *pod
 	// reset the labels
 	updatedPod.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+	updatedPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	// add the updatedPod to the store. This is consistent with the behavior of
 	// the Informer: Informer updates the store before call the handler
 	// (updatePod() in this case).
diff --git a/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller.go b/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller.go
index 91660a5307a..5ef0b486ccd 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller.go
@@ -367,12 +367,13 @@ func (rm *ReplicationManager) addPod(obj interface{}) {
 // up. If the labels of the pod have changed we need to awaken both the old
 // and new controller. old and cur must be *api.Pod types.
 func (rm *ReplicationManager) updatePod(old, cur interface{}) {
-	if api.Semantic.DeepEqual(old, cur) {
-		// A periodic relist will send update events for all known pods.
-		return
-	}
 	curPod := cur.(*api.Pod)
 	oldPod := old.(*api.Pod)
+	if curPod.ResourceVersion == oldPod.ResourceVersion {
+		// Periodic resync will send update events for all known pods.
+		// Two different versions of the same pod will always have different RVs.
+		return
+	}
 	glog.V(4).Infof("Pod %s updated, objectMeta %+v -> %+v.", curPod.Name, oldPod.ObjectMeta, curPod.ObjectMeta)
 	labelChanged := !reflect.DeepEqual(curPod.Labels, oldPod.Labels)
 	if curPod.DeletionTimestamp != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller_test.go
index 9f1696fb145..3824a2370b1 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/replication/replication_controller_test.go
@@ -547,8 +547,10 @@ func TestUpdatePods(t *testing.T) {
 	// testControllerSpec1, then update its labels to match testControllerSpec2.
 	// We expect to receive a sync request for both controllers.
 	pod1 := newPodList(manager.podStore.Indexer, 1, api.PodRunning, testControllerSpec1, "pod").Items[0]
+	pod1.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	pod2 := pod1
 	pod2.Labels = testControllerSpec2.Spec.Selector
+	pod2.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&pod1, &pod2)
 	expected := sets.NewString(testControllerSpec1.Name, testControllerSpec2.Name)
 	for _, name := range expected.List() {
@@ -567,6 +569,7 @@ func TestUpdatePods(t *testing.T) {
 	// We update its labels to match no replication controller.  We expect to
 	// receive a sync request for testControllerSpec1.
 	pod2.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+	pod2.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&pod1, &pod2)
 	expected = sets.NewString(testControllerSpec1.Name)
 	for _, name := range expected.List() {
@@ -969,6 +972,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	pod := newPodList(nil, 1, api.PodPending, controllerSpec, "pod").Items[0]
 	pod.DeletionTimestamp = &unversioned.Time{Time: time.Now()}
+	pod.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rcKey, []string{controller.PodKey(&pod)})
 
 	// A pod added with a deletion timestamp should decrement deletions, not creations.
@@ -988,6 +992,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	// An update from no deletion timestamp to having one should be treated
 	// as a deletion.
 	oldPod := newPodList(nil, 1, api.PodPending, controllerSpec, "pod").Items[0]
+	oldPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rcKey, []string{controller.PodKey(&pod)})
 	manager.updatePod(&oldPod, &pod)
 
@@ -1013,6 +1018,7 @@ func TestDeletionTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	manager.expectations.ExpectDeletions(rcKey, []string{controller.PodKey(secondPod)})
 	oldPod.DeletionTimestamp = &unversioned.Time{Time: time.Now()}
+	oldPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	manager.updatePod(&oldPod, &pod)
 
 	podExp, exists, err = manager.expectations.GetExpectations(rcKey)
@@ -1239,12 +1245,14 @@ func TestUpdateLabelsRemoveControllerRef(t *testing.T) {
 	manager.rcStore.Indexer.Add(rc)
 	// put one pod in the podStore
 	pod := newPod("pod", rc, api.PodRunning)
+	pod.ResourceVersion = "1"
 	var trueVar = true
 	rcOwnerReference := api.OwnerReference{UID: rc.UID, APIVersion: "v1", Kind: "ReplicationController", Name: rc.Name, Controller: &trueVar}
 	pod.OwnerReferences = []api.OwnerReference{rcOwnerReference}
 	updatedPod := *pod
 	// reset the labels
 	updatedPod.Labels = make(map[string]string)
+	updatedPod.ResourceVersion = "2"
 	// add the updatedPod to the store. This is consistent with the behavior of
 	// the Informer: Informer updates the store before call the handler
 	// (updatePod() in this case).