diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/BUILD
index 0e3a2aea604..da1c7fa0ee0 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/BUILD
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ go_library(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
-        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/informers:go_default_library",
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
index 8d4fe4b5211..d3c45030803 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/controller.go
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import (
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	utilruntime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	appsinformers "k8s.io/client-go/informers/apps/v1"
@@ -398,11 +397,7 @@ func newDeployment(foo *samplev1alpha1.Foo) *appsv1.Deployment {
 			Name:      foo.Spec.DeploymentName,
 			Namespace: foo.Namespace,
 			OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{
-				*metav1.NewControllerRef(foo, schema.GroupVersionKind{
-					Group:   samplev1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.Group,
-					Version: samplev1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.Version,
-					Kind:    "Foo",
-				}),
+				*metav1.NewControllerRef(foo, samplev1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithKind("Foo")),
 			},
 		},
 		Spec: appsv1.DeploymentSpec{