diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
index 99c378b351f..7a0e3b2f4c0 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func parseThresholdStatement(statement string) (Threshold, error) {
 	return Threshold{
 		Signal:   signal,
 		Operator: operator,
-		Value:    quantity,
+		Value:    &quantity,
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -213,14 +213,10 @@ func podUsage(podStats statsapi.PodStats) (api.ResourceList, error) {
 		// disk usage (if known)
 		// TODO: need to handle volumes
 		for _, fsStats := range []*statsapi.FsStats{container.Rootfs, container.Logs} {
-			if err := disk.Add(*diskUsage(fsStats)); err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
+			disk.Add(*diskUsage(fsStats))
 		}
 		// memory usage (if known)
-		if err := memory.Add(*memoryUsage(container.Memory)); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		memory.Add(*memoryUsage(container.Memory))
 	}
 	return api.ResourceList{
 		api.ResourceMemory: memory,
@@ -430,7 +426,7 @@ func makeSignalObservations(summaryProvider stats.SummaryProvider) (signalObserv
 	statsFunc := cachedStatsFunc(summary.Pods)
 	// build an evaluation context for current eviction signals
 	result := signalObservations{}
-	result[SignalMemoryAvailable] = *resource.NewQuantity(int64(*summary.Node.Memory.AvailableBytes), resource.BinarySI)
+	result[SignalMemoryAvailable] = resource.NewQuantity(int64(*summary.Node.Memory.AvailableBytes), resource.BinarySI)
 	return result, statsFunc, nil
 }
 
@@ -446,7 +442,7 @@ func thresholdsMet(thresholds []Threshold, observations signalObservations) []Th
 		}
 		// determine if we have met the specified threshold
 		thresholdMet := false
-		thresholdResult := threshold.Value.Cmp(observed)
+		thresholdResult := threshold.Value.Cmp(*observed)
 		switch threshold.Operator {
 		case OpLessThan:
 			thresholdMet = thresholdResult > 0
@@ -538,7 +534,7 @@ func hasNodeCondition(inputs []api.NodeConditionType, item api.NodeConditionType
 // hasThreshold returns true if the node condition is in the input list
 func hasThreshold(inputs []Threshold, item Threshold) bool {
 	for _, input := range inputs {
-		if input.GracePeriod == item.GracePeriod && input.Operator == item.Operator && input.Signal == item.Signal && input.Value.Cmp(item.Value) == 0 {
+		if input.GracePeriod == item.GracePeriod && input.Operator == item.Operator && input.Signal == item.Signal && input.Value.Cmp(*item.Value) == 0 {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
index b908b734652..6d412c9d1c7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/types"
 )
 
+func quantityMustParse(value string) *resource.Quantity {
+	q := resource.MustParse(value)
+	return &q
+}
+
 func TestParseThresholdConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	gracePeriod, _ := time.ParseDuration("30s")
 	testCases := map[string]struct {
@@ -55,12 +60,12 @@ func TestParseThresholdConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				{
 					Signal:   SignalMemoryAvailable,
 					Operator: OpLessThan,
-					Value:    resource.MustParse("150Mi"),
+					Value:    quantityMustParse("150Mi"),
 				},
 				{
 					Signal:      SignalMemoryAvailable,
 					Operator:    OpLessThan,
-					Value:       resource.MustParse("300Mi"),
+					Value:       quantityMustParse("300Mi"),
 					GracePeriod: gracePeriod,
 				},
 			},
@@ -145,7 +150,7 @@ func thresholdEqual(a Threshold, b Threshold) bool {
 	return a.GracePeriod == b.GracePeriod &&
 		a.Operator == b.Operator &&
 		a.Signal == b.Signal &&
-		a.Value.Cmp(b.Value) == 0
+		a.Value.Cmp(*b.Value) == 0
 }
 
 // TestOrderedByQoS ensures we order BestEffort < Burstable < Guaranteed
@@ -348,7 +353,7 @@ func TestThresholdsMet(t *testing.T) {
 	hardThreshold := Threshold{
 		Signal:   SignalMemoryAvailable,
 		Operator: OpLessThan,
-		Value:    resource.MustParse("1Gi"),
+		Value:    quantityMustParse("1Gi"),
 	}
 	testCases := map[string]struct {
 		thresholds   []Threshold
@@ -363,14 +368,14 @@ func TestThresholdsMet(t *testing.T) {
 		"threshold-met": {
 			thresholds: []Threshold{hardThreshold},
 			observations: signalObservations{
-				SignalMemoryAvailable: resource.MustParse("500Mi"),
+				SignalMemoryAvailable: quantityMustParse("500Mi"),
 			},
 			result: []Threshold{hardThreshold},
 		},
 		"threshold-not-met": {
 			thresholds: []Threshold{hardThreshold},
 			observations: signalObservations{
-				SignalMemoryAvailable: resource.MustParse("2Gi"),
+				SignalMemoryAvailable: quantityMustParse("2Gi"),
 			},
 			result: []Threshold{},
 		},
@@ -387,7 +392,7 @@ func TestThresholdsFirstObservedAt(t *testing.T) {
 	hardThreshold := Threshold{
 		Signal:   SignalMemoryAvailable,
 		Operator: OpLessThan,
-		Value:    resource.MustParse("1Gi"),
+		Value:    quantityMustParse("1Gi"),
 	}
 	now := unversioned.Now()
 	oldTime := unversioned.NewTime(now.Time.Add(-1 * time.Minute))
@@ -435,12 +440,12 @@ func TestThresholdsMetGracePeriod(t *testing.T) {
 	hardThreshold := Threshold{
 		Signal:   SignalMemoryAvailable,
 		Operator: OpLessThan,
-		Value:    resource.MustParse("1Gi"),
+		Value:    quantityMustParse("1Gi"),
 	}
 	softThreshold := Threshold{
 		Signal:      SignalMemoryAvailable,
 		Operator:    OpLessThan,
-		Value:       resource.MustParse("2Gi"),
+		Value:       quantityMustParse("2Gi"),
 		GracePeriod: 1 * time.Minute,
 	}
 	oldTime := unversioned.NewTime(now.Time.Add(-2 * time.Minute))
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/manager_test.go
index 0d5fa77291e..a936a2f18d8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/manager_test.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func TestMemoryPressure(t *testing.T) {
 			{
 				Signal:   SignalMemoryAvailable,
 				Operator: OpLessThan,
-				Value:    resource.MustParse("1Gi"),
+				Value:    quantityMustParse("1Gi"),
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/types.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/types.go
index a39a30394f9..d75406d1b45 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/types.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/types.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ type Threshold struct {
 	// Operator represents a relationship of a signal to a value.
 	Operator ThresholdOperator
 	// value is a quantity associated with the signal that is evaluated against the specified operator.
-	Value resource.Quantity
+	Value *resource.Quantity
 	// GracePeriod represents the amount of time that a threshold must be met before eviction is triggered.
 	GracePeriod time.Duration
 }
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ type statsFunc func(pod *api.Pod) (statsapi.PodStats, bool)
 type rankFunc func(pods []*api.Pod, stats statsFunc)
 
 // signalObservations maps a signal to an observed quantity
-type signalObservations map[Signal]resource.Quantity
+type signalObservations map[Signal]*resource.Quantity
 
 // thresholdsObservedAt maps a threshold to a time that it was observed
 type thresholdsObservedAt map[Threshold]time.Time