diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/BUILD
index 20d86ffed32..bdf5f86cb2a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/BUILD
@@ -55,11 +55,15 @@ go_test(
     name = "go_default_test",
     srcs = [
         "conversion_test.go",
+        "defaults_test.go",
         "marshal_test.go",
     ],
     embed = [":go_default_library"],
     deps = [
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/k8s.io/utils/pointer:go_default_library",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults.go
index f87b06fa398..1a9c2238e33 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults.go
@@ -24,10 +24,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func addDefaultingFuncs(scheme *runtime.Scheme) error {
-	scheme.AddTypeDefaultingFunc(&CustomResourceDefinition{}, func(obj interface{}) { SetDefaults_CustomResourceDefinition(obj.(*CustomResourceDefinition)) })
-	// TODO figure out why I can't seem to get my defaulter generated
-	// return RegisterDefaults(scheme)
-	return nil
+	return RegisterDefaults(scheme)
 }
 
 func SetDefaults_CustomResourceDefinition(obj *CustomResourceDefinition) {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6aad4c5eee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1beta1/defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1beta1
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+
+	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	utilpointer "k8s.io/utils/pointer"
+)
+
+func TestDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
+	AddToScheme(scheme)
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		original *CustomResourceDefinition
+		expected *CustomResourceDefinition
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "empty",
+			original: &CustomResourceDefinition{},
+			expected: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope:                 NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion:            &CustomResourceConversion{Strategy: NoneConverter},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "conversion defaults",
+			original: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope: NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion: &CustomResourceConversion{
+						Strategy: WebhookConverter,
+						WebhookClientConfig: &WebhookClientConfig{
+							Service: &ServiceReference{},
+						},
+					},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope: NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion: &CustomResourceConversion{
+						Strategy:                 WebhookConverter,
+						ConversionReviewVersions: []string{"v1beta1"},
+						WebhookClientConfig: &WebhookClientConfig{
+							Service: &ServiceReference{Port: utilpointer.Int32Ptr(443)},
+						},
+					},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "storage status defaults",
+			original: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope:                 NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion:            &CustomResourceConversion{Strategy: NoneConverter},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+					Versions: []CustomResourceDefinitionVersion{
+						{Name: "v1", Storage: false, Served: true},
+						{Name: "v2", Storage: true, Served: true},
+						{Name: "v3", Storage: false, Served: true},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope:                 NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion:            &CustomResourceConversion{Strategy: NoneConverter},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+					Version:               "v1",
+					Versions: []CustomResourceDefinitionVersion{
+						{Name: "v1", Storage: false, Served: true},
+						{Name: "v2", Storage: true, Served: true},
+						{Name: "v3", Storage: false, Served: true},
+					},
+				},
+				Status: CustomResourceDefinitionStatus{
+					StoredVersions: []string{"v2"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "version defaults",
+			original: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope:                 NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion:            &CustomResourceConversion{Strategy: NoneConverter},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+					Version:               "v1",
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &CustomResourceDefinition{
+				Spec: CustomResourceDefinitionSpec{
+					Scope:                 NamespaceScoped,
+					Conversion:            &CustomResourceConversion{Strategy: NoneConverter},
+					PreserveUnknownFields: utilpointer.BoolPtr(true),
+					Version:               "v1",
+					Versions: []CustomResourceDefinitionVersion{
+						{Name: "v1", Storage: true, Served: true},
+					},
+				},
+				Status: CustomResourceDefinitionStatus{
+					StoredVersions: []string{"v1"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			original := test.original
+			expected := test.expected
+			scheme.Default(original)
+			if !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(original, expected) {
+				t.Errorf("expected vs got:\n%s", cmp.Diff(test.expected, original))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}