diff --git a/hack/.golint_failures b/hack/.golint_failures
index 3ac36325ff3..d3fe5c73e38 100644
--- a/hack/.golint_failures
+++ b/hack/.golint_failures
@@ -478,7 +478,6 @@ staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/validation/path
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/config/v1alpha1
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/fuzzer
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/internalversion
-staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1beta1
 staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/testapigroup
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/BUILD
index f5b2d8557d5..3450d869db7 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/BUILD
@@ -15,7 +15,13 @@ go_test(
     ],
     embed = [":go_default_library"],
     deps = [
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/apitesting/fuzzer:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/fuzzer:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/stretchr/testify/assert:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/stretchr/testify/require:go_default_library",
     ],
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
index 548a01e59a9..781469ec265 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured.go
@@ -179,6 +179,11 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetOwnerReferences() []metav1.OwnerReference {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetOwnerReferences(references []metav1.OwnerReference) {
+	if references == nil {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "ownerReferences")
+		return
+	}
+
 	newReferences := make([]interface{}, 0, len(references))
 	for _, reference := range references {
 		out, err := runtime.DefaultUnstructuredConverter.ToUnstructured(&reference)
@@ -212,6 +217,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetNamespace() string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetNamespace(namespace string) {
+	if len(namespace) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "namespace")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(namespace, "metadata", "namespace")
 }
 
@@ -220,6 +229,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetName() string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetName(name string) {
+	if len(name) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "name")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(name, "metadata", "name")
 }
 
@@ -227,8 +240,12 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetGenerateName() string {
 	return getNestedString(u.Object, "metadata", "generateName")
 }
 
-func (u *Unstructured) SetGenerateName(name string) {
-	u.setNestedField(name, "metadata", "generateName")
+func (u *Unstructured) SetGenerateName(generateName string) {
+	if len(generateName) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "generateName")
+		return
+	}
+	u.setNestedField(generateName, "metadata", "generateName")
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) GetUID() types.UID {
@@ -236,6 +253,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetUID() types.UID {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetUID(uid types.UID) {
+	if len(string(uid)) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "uid")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(string(uid), "metadata", "uid")
 }
 
@@ -243,8 +264,12 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetResourceVersion() string {
 	return getNestedString(u.Object, "metadata", "resourceVersion")
 }
 
-func (u *Unstructured) SetResourceVersion(version string) {
-	u.setNestedField(version, "metadata", "resourceVersion")
+func (u *Unstructured) SetResourceVersion(resourceVersion string) {
+	if len(resourceVersion) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "resourceVersion")
+		return
+	}
+	u.setNestedField(resourceVersion, "metadata", "resourceVersion")
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) GetGeneration() int64 {
@@ -256,6 +281,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetGeneration() int64 {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetGeneration(generation int64) {
+	if generation == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "generation")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(generation, "metadata", "generation")
 }
 
@@ -264,6 +293,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetSelfLink() string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetSelfLink(selfLink string) {
+	if len(selfLink) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "selfLink")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(selfLink, "metadata", "selfLink")
 }
 
@@ -272,6 +305,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetContinue() string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetContinue(c string) {
+	if len(c) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "continue")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(c, "metadata", "continue")
 }
 
@@ -330,6 +367,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetLabels() map[string]string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetLabels(labels map[string]string) {
+	if labels == nil {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "labels")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedMap(labels, "metadata", "labels")
 }
 
@@ -339,6 +380,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetAnnotations() map[string]string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetAnnotations(annotations map[string]string) {
+	if annotations == nil {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "annotations")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedMap(annotations, "metadata", "annotations")
 }
 
@@ -387,6 +432,10 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetFinalizers() []string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetFinalizers(finalizers []string) {
+	if finalizers == nil {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "finalizers")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedSlice(finalizers, "metadata", "finalizers")
 }
 
@@ -395,5 +444,9 @@ func (u *Unstructured) GetClusterName() string {
 }
 
 func (u *Unstructured) SetClusterName(clusterName string) {
+	if len(clusterName) == 0 {
+		RemoveNestedField(u.Object, "metadata", "clusterName")
+		return
+	}
 	u.setNestedField(clusterName, "metadata", "clusterName")
 }
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_test.go
index cbcbbcef34b..4a03fff654e 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured/unstructured_test.go
@@ -14,19 +14,149 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package unstructured
+package unstructured_test
 
 import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/apitesting/fuzzer"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
+	metafuzzer "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/fuzzer"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
 )
 
 func TestNilUnstructuredContent(t *testing.T) {
-	var u Unstructured
+	var u unstructured.Unstructured
 	uCopy := u.DeepCopy()
 	content := u.UnstructuredContent()
 	expContent := make(map[string]interface{})
 	assert.EqualValues(t, expContent, content)
 	assert.Equal(t, uCopy, &u)
 }
+
+// TestUnstructuredMetadataRoundTrip checks that metadata accessors
+// correctly set the metadata for unstructured objects.
+// First, it fuzzes an empty ObjectMeta and sets this value as the metadata for an unstructured object.
+// Next, it uses metadata accessor methods to set these fuzzed values to another unstructured object.
+// Finally, it checks that both the unstructured objects are equal.
+func TestUnstructuredMetadataRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
+	codecs := serializer.NewCodecFactory(scheme)
+	seed := rand.Int63()
+	fuzzer := fuzzer.FuzzerFor(metafuzzer.Funcs, rand.NewSource(seed), codecs)
+
+	N := 1000
+	for i := 0; i < N; i++ {
+		u := &unstructured.Unstructured{Object: map[string]interface{}{}}
+		uCopy := u.DeepCopy()
+		metadata := &metav1.ObjectMeta{}
+		fuzzer.Fuzz(metadata)
+
+		if err := setObjectMeta(u, metadata); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected error setting fuzzed ObjectMeta: %v", err)
+		}
+		setObjectMetaUsingAccessors(u, uCopy)
+
+		// TODO: remove this special casing when creationTimestamp becomes a pointer.
+		// Right now, creationTimestamp is a struct (metav1.Time) so omitempty holds no meaning for it.
+		// However, the current behaviour is to remove the field if it holds an empty struct.
+		// This special casing exists here because custom marshallers for metav1.Time marshal
+		// an empty value to "null", which gets converted to nil when converting to an unstructured map by "ToUnstructured".
+		if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(uCopy.UnstructuredContent(), nil, "metadata", "creationTimestamp"); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected error setting creationTimestamp as nil: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		if !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(u, uCopy) {
+			t.Errorf("diff: %v", diff.ObjectReflectDiff(u, uCopy))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestUnstructuredMetadataOmitempty checks that ObjectMeta omitempty
+// semantics are enforced for unstructured objects.
+// The fuzzing test above should catch these cases but this is here just to be safe.
+// Example: the metadata.clusterName field has the omitempty json tag
+// so if it is set to it's zero value (""), it should be removed from the metadata map.
+func TestUnstructuredMetadataOmitempty(t *testing.T) {
+	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
+	codecs := serializer.NewCodecFactory(scheme)
+	seed := rand.Int63()
+	fuzzer := fuzzer.FuzzerFor(metafuzzer.Funcs, rand.NewSource(seed), codecs)
+
+	// fuzz to make sure we don't miss any function calls below
+	u := &unstructured.Unstructured{Object: map[string]interface{}{}}
+	metadata := &metav1.ObjectMeta{}
+	fuzzer.Fuzz(metadata)
+	if err := setObjectMeta(u, metadata); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error setting fuzzed ObjectMeta: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// set zero values for all fields in metadata explicitly
+	// to check that omitempty fields having zero values are never set
+	u.SetName("")
+	u.SetGenerateName("")
+	u.SetNamespace("")
+	u.SetSelfLink("")
+	u.SetUID("")
+	u.SetResourceVersion("")
+	u.SetGeneration(0)
+	u.SetCreationTimestamp(metav1.Time{})
+	u.SetDeletionTimestamp(nil)
+	u.SetDeletionGracePeriodSeconds(nil)
+	u.SetLabels(nil)
+	u.SetAnnotations(nil)
+	u.SetOwnerReferences(nil)
+	u.SetInitializers(nil)
+	u.SetFinalizers(nil)
+	u.SetClusterName("")
+
+	gotMetadata, _, err := unstructured.NestedFieldNoCopy(u.UnstructuredContent(), "metadata")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	emptyMetadata := make(map[string]interface{})
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(gotMetadata, emptyMetadata) {
+		t.Errorf("expected %v, got %v", emptyMetadata, gotMetadata)
+	}
+}
+
+func setObjectMeta(u *unstructured.Unstructured, objectMeta *metav1.ObjectMeta) error {
+	if objectMeta == nil {
+		unstructured.RemoveNestedField(u.UnstructuredContent(), "metadata")
+		return nil
+	}
+	metadata, err := runtime.DefaultUnstructuredConverter.ToUnstructured(objectMeta)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	u.UnstructuredContent()["metadata"] = metadata
+	return nil
+}
+
+func setObjectMetaUsingAccessors(u, uCopy *unstructured.Unstructured) {
+	uCopy.SetName(u.GetName())
+	uCopy.SetGenerateName(u.GetGenerateName())
+	uCopy.SetNamespace(u.GetNamespace())
+	uCopy.SetSelfLink(u.GetSelfLink())
+	uCopy.SetUID(u.GetUID())
+	uCopy.SetResourceVersion(u.GetResourceVersion())
+	uCopy.SetGeneration(u.GetGeneration())
+	uCopy.SetCreationTimestamp(u.GetCreationTimestamp())
+	uCopy.SetDeletionTimestamp(u.GetDeletionTimestamp())
+	uCopy.SetDeletionGracePeriodSeconds(u.GetDeletionGracePeriodSeconds())
+	uCopy.SetLabels(u.GetLabels())
+	uCopy.SetAnnotations(u.GetAnnotations())
+	uCopy.SetOwnerReferences(u.GetOwnerReferences())
+	uCopy.SetInitializers(u.GetInitializers())
+	uCopy.SetFinalizers(u.GetFinalizers())
+	uCopy.SetClusterName(u.GetClusterName())
+}