diff --git a/pkg/tools/etcd_tools.go b/pkg/tools/etcd_tools.go
index b3fcb1facae..8f7ff6618a6 100644
--- a/pkg/tools/etcd_tools.go
+++ b/pkg/tools/etcd_tools.go
@@ -164,6 +164,12 @@ func (h *EtcdHelper) ExtractList(key string, slicePtr interface{}, resourceVersi
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	h.decodeNodeList(nodes, slicePtr)
+	return nil
+}
+
+// decodeNodeList walks the tree of each node in the list and decodes into the specified object
+func (h *EtcdHelper) decodeNodeList(nodes []*etcd.Node, slicePtr interface{}) error {
 	pv := reflect.ValueOf(slicePtr)
 	if pv.Type().Kind() != reflect.Ptr || pv.Type().Elem().Kind() != reflect.Slice {
 		// This should not happen at runtime.
@@ -171,16 +177,20 @@ func (h *EtcdHelper) ExtractList(key string, slicePtr interface{}, resourceVersi
 	}
 	v := pv.Elem()
 	for _, node := range nodes {
-		obj := reflect.New(v.Type().Elem())
-		err = h.Codec.DecodeInto([]byte(node.Value), obj.Interface().(runtime.Object))
-		if h.ResourceVersioner != nil {
-			_ = h.ResourceVersioner.SetResourceVersion(obj.Interface().(runtime.Object), node.ModifiedIndex)
-			// being unable to set the version does not prevent the object from being extracted
+		if node.Dir {
+			h.decodeNodeList(node.Nodes, slicePtr)
+		} else {
+			obj := reflect.New(v.Type().Elem())
+			err := h.Codec.DecodeInto([]byte(node.Value), obj.Interface().(runtime.Object))
+			if h.ResourceVersioner != nil {
+				_ = h.ResourceVersioner.SetResourceVersion(obj.Interface().(runtime.Object), node.ModifiedIndex)
+				// being unable to set the version does not prevent the object from being extracted
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			v.Set(reflect.Append(v, obj.Elem()))
 		}
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		v.Set(reflect.Append(v, obj.Elem()))
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tools/etcd_tools_test.go b/pkg/tools/etcd_tools_test.go
index 54c6432c05f..40918825690 100644
--- a/pkg/tools/etcd_tools_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tools/etcd_tools_test.go
@@ -108,6 +108,104 @@ func TestExtractToList(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestExtractToListAcrossDirectories ensures that the client excludes directories and flattens tree-response - simulates cross-namespace query
+func TestExtractToListAcrossDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeClient := NewFakeEtcdClient(t)
+	fakeClient.Data["/some/key"] = EtcdResponseWithError{
+		R: &etcd.Response{
+			EtcdIndex: 10,
+			Node: &etcd.Node{
+				Nodes: []*etcd.Node{
+					{
+						Value: `{"id": "directory1"}`,
+						Dir:   true,
+						Nodes: []*etcd.Node{
+							{
+								Value:         `{"id":"foo"}`,
+								ModifiedIndex: 1,
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					{
+						Value: `{"id": "directory2"}`,
+						Dir:   true,
+						Nodes: []*etcd.Node{
+							{
+								Value:         `{"id":"bar"}`,
+								ModifiedIndex: 2,
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	expect := api.PodList{
+		JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ResourceVersion: 10},
+		Items: []api.Pod{
+			{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ID: "foo", ResourceVersion: 1}},
+			{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ID: "bar", ResourceVersion: 2}},
+		},
+	}
+
+	var got api.PodList
+	helper := EtcdHelper{fakeClient, latest.Codec, versioner}
+	err := helper.ExtractToList("/some/key", &got)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+	}
+	if e, a := expect, got; !reflect.DeepEqual(e, a) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %#v, got %#v", e, a)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractToListExcludesDirectories(t *testing.T) {
+	fakeClient := NewFakeEtcdClient(t)
+	fakeClient.Data["/some/key"] = EtcdResponseWithError{
+		R: &etcd.Response{
+			EtcdIndex: 10,
+			Node: &etcd.Node{
+				Nodes: []*etcd.Node{
+					{
+						Value:         `{"id":"foo"}`,
+						ModifiedIndex: 1,
+					},
+					{
+						Value:         `{"id":"bar"}`,
+						ModifiedIndex: 2,
+					},
+					{
+						Value:         `{"id":"baz"}`,
+						ModifiedIndex: 3,
+					},
+					{
+						Value: `{"id": "directory"}`,
+						Dir:   true,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	expect := api.PodList{
+		JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ResourceVersion: 10},
+		Items: []api.Pod{
+			{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ID: "foo", ResourceVersion: 1}},
+			{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ID: "bar", ResourceVersion: 2}},
+			{JSONBase: api.JSONBase{ID: "baz", ResourceVersion: 3}},
+		},
+	}
+
+	var got api.PodList
+	helper := EtcdHelper{fakeClient, latest.Codec, versioner}
+	err := helper.ExtractToList("/some/key", &got)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+	}
+	if e, a := expect, got; !reflect.DeepEqual(e, a) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %#v, got %#v", e, a)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestExtractObj(t *testing.T) {
 	fakeClient := NewFakeEtcdClient(t)
 	expect := api.Pod{TypeMeta: api.TypeMeta{ID: "foo"}}