diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/help.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/help.go
index 31765eeee10..dff943bfaee 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/help.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/help.go
@@ -214,8 +214,9 @@ func extractList(obj runtime.Object, allocNew bool) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 	list := make([]runtime.Object, items.Len())
 	for i := range list {
 		raw := items.Index(i)
-		switch item := raw.Interface().(type) {
-		case runtime.RawExtension:
+		switch {
+		case raw.Type() == rawExtensionObjectType:
+			item := raw.Interface().(runtime.RawExtension)
 			switch {
 			case item.Object != nil:
 				list[i] = item.Object
@@ -225,8 +226,8 @@ func extractList(obj runtime.Object, allocNew bool) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 			default:
 				list[i] = nil
 			}
-		case runtime.Object:
-			list[i] = item
+		case raw.Type().Implements(objectType):
+			list[i] = raw.Interface().(runtime.Object)
 		default:
 			var found bool
 			if list[i], found = raw.Addr().Interface().(runtime.Object); !found {
@@ -237,8 +238,12 @@ func extractList(obj runtime.Object, allocNew bool) ([]runtime.Object, error) {
 	return list, nil
 }
 
-// objectSliceType is the type of a slice of Objects
-var objectSliceType = reflect.TypeOf([]runtime.Object{})
+var (
+	// objectSliceType is the type of a slice of Objects
+	objectSliceType        = reflect.TypeOf([]runtime.Object{})
+	objectType             = reflect.TypeOf((*runtime.Object)(nil)).Elem()
+	rawExtensionObjectType = reflect.TypeOf(runtime.RawExtension{})
+)
 
 // LenList returns the length of this list or 0 if it is not a list.
 func LenList(list runtime.Object) int {
@@ -273,7 +278,7 @@ func SetList(list runtime.Object, objects []runtime.Object) error {
 	slice := reflect.MakeSlice(items.Type(), len(objects), len(objects))
 	for i := range objects {
 		dest := slice.Index(i)
-		if dest.Type() == reflect.TypeOf(runtime.RawExtension{}) {
+		if dest.Type() == rawExtensionObjectType {
 			dest = dest.FieldByName("Object")
 		}