diff --git a/pkg/api/ref.go b/pkg/api/ref.go
index 2af43ebb3d1..67330f90057 100644
--- a/pkg/api/ref.go
+++ b/pkg/api/ref.go
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ package api
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
+	"net/url"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/meta"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
@@ -31,8 +32,6 @@ var (
 	ErrNoSelfLink = errors.New("selfLink was empty, can't make reference")
 )
 
-var versionFromSelfLink = regexp.MustCompile("/api/([^/]*)/")
-
 // ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks can be set to true in tests to avoid
 // "ErrNoSelfLink" errors.
 var ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks = false
@@ -40,6 +39,7 @@ var ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks = false
 // GetReference returns an ObjectReference which refers to the given
 // object, or an error if the object doesn't follow the conventions
 // that would allow this.
+// TODO: should take a meta.Interface see https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/issues/7127
 func GetReference(obj runtime.Object) (*ObjectReference, error) {
 	if obj == nil {
 		return nil, ErrNilObject
@@ -52,23 +52,41 @@ func GetReference(obj runtime.Object) (*ObjectReference, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	_, kind, err := Scheme.ObjectVersionAndKind(obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	version := ""
-	parsedSelfLink := versionFromSelfLink.FindStringSubmatch(meta.SelfLink())
-	if len(parsedSelfLink) < 2 {
-		if ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks {
-			version = "testing"
-		} else if meta.SelfLink() == "" {
-			return nil, ErrNoSelfLink
-		} else {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected self link format: '%v'; got version '%v'", meta.SelfLink(), version)
+
+	// if the object referenced is actually persisted, we can just get kind from meta
+	// if we are building an object reference to something not yet persisted, we should fallback to scheme
+	kind := meta.Kind()
+	if kind == "" {
+		_, kind, err = Scheme.ObjectVersionAndKind(obj)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
-	} else {
-		version = parsedSelfLink[1]
 	}
+
+	// if the object referenced is actually persisted, we can also get version from meta
+	version := meta.APIVersion()
+	if version == "" {
+		selfLink := meta.SelfLink()
+		if selfLink == "" {
+			if ForTesting_ReferencesAllowBlankSelfLinks {
+				version = "testing"
+			} else {
+				return nil, ErrNoSelfLink
+			}
+		} else {
+			selfLinkUrl, err := url.Parse(selfLink)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			// example paths: /<prefix>/<version>/*
+			parts := strings.Split(selfLinkUrl.Path, "/")
+			if len(parts) < 3 {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected self link format: '%v'; got version '%v'", selfLink, version)
+			}
+			version = parts[2]
+		}
+	}
+
 	return &ObjectReference{
 		Kind:            kind,
 		APIVersion:      version,
diff --git a/pkg/api/ref_test.go b/pkg/api/ref_test.go
index f57d3883c8c..39bb59ffd60 100644
--- a/pkg/api/ref_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/ref_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ type FakeAPIObject struct{}
 
 func (*FakeAPIObject) IsAnAPIObject() {}
 
+type ExtensionAPIObject struct {
+	TypeMeta
+	ObjectMeta
+}
+
+func (*ExtensionAPIObject) IsAnAPIObject() {}
+
 func TestGetReference(t *testing.T) {
 	table := map[string]struct {
 		obj       runtime.Object
@@ -66,6 +73,26 @@ func TestGetReference(t *testing.T) {
 				ResourceVersion: "42",
 			},
 		},
+		"extensionAPIObject": {
+			obj: &ExtensionAPIObject{
+				TypeMeta: TypeMeta{
+					Kind: "ExtensionAPIObject",
+				},
+				ObjectMeta: ObjectMeta{
+					Name:            "foo",
+					UID:             "bar",
+					ResourceVersion: "42",
+					SelfLink:        "/custom_prefix/version1/extensions/foo",
+				},
+			},
+			ref: &ObjectReference{
+				Kind:            "ExtensionAPIObject",
+				APIVersion:      "version1",
+				Name:            "foo",
+				UID:             "bar",
+				ResourceVersion: "42",
+			},
+		},
 		"badSelfLink": {
 			obj: &ServiceList{
 				ListMeta: ListMeta{
@@ -90,7 +117,7 @@ func TestGetReference(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, item := range table {
 		ref, err := GetPartialReference(item.obj, item.fieldPath)
 		if e, a := item.shouldErr, (err != nil); e != a {
-			t.Errorf("%v: expected %v, got %v", name, e, a)
+			t.Errorf("%v: expected %v, got %v, err %v", name, e, a, err)
 			continue
 		}
 		if e, a := item.ref, ref; !reflect.DeepEqual(e, a) {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
index 90413ef2c62..d1f09742053 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/ref_test.go
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ func TestGenerateContainerRef(t *testing.T) {
 		noSelfLinkPod        = okPod
 		defaultedSelfLinkPod = okPod
 	)
+	noSelfLinkPod.Kind = ""
+	noSelfLinkPod.APIVersion = ""
 	noSelfLinkPod.ObjectMeta.SelfLink = ""
 	defaultedSelfLinkPod.ObjectMeta.SelfLink = "/api/v1beta1/pods/ok"