diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/apply_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/apply_test.go
index 714b695046..0508a36189 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/apply_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/apply_test.go
@@ -283,6 +283,8 @@ func TestApplyNonExistObject(t *testing.T) {
 		NegotiatedSerializer: ns,
 		Client: fake.CreateHTTPClient(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/api/v1/namespaces/test" && m == "GET":
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 404, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: ioutil.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(nil))}, nil
 			case p == pathNameRC && m == "GET":
 				return &http.Response{StatusCode: 404, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: ioutil.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(nil))}, nil
 			case p == pathRC && m == "POST":
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/replace_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/replace_test.go
index bfdfab53d2..14e5f11b35 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/replace_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/replace_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/typed/dynamic"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/fake"
 )
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ func TestReplaceObject(t *testing.T) {
 		NegotiatedSerializer: ns,
 		Client: fake.CreateHTTPClient(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/api/v1/namespaces/test" && m == http.MethodGet:
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusOK, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: objBody(codec, &api.Namespace{})}, nil
 			case p == "/namespaces/test/replicationcontrollers/redis-master" && m == http.MethodDelete:
 				deleted = true
 				fallthrough
@@ -92,6 +95,8 @@ func TestReplaceMultipleObject(t *testing.T) {
 		NegotiatedSerializer: ns,
 		Client: fake.CreateHTTPClient(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/api/v1/namespaces/test" && m == http.MethodGet:
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusOK, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: objBody(codec, &api.Namespace{})}, nil
 			case p == "/namespaces/test/replicationcontrollers/redis-master" && m == http.MethodDelete:
 				redisMasterDeleted = true
 				fallthrough
@@ -159,6 +164,8 @@ func TestReplaceDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 		NegotiatedSerializer: ns,
 		Client: fake.CreateHTTPClient(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/api/v1/namespaces/test" && m == http.MethodGet:
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusOK, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: objBody(codec, &api.Namespace{})}, nil
 			case strings.HasPrefix(p, "/namespaces/test/replicationcontrollers/") && m == http.MethodPut:
 				created[p] = true
 				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusOK, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: objBody(codec, &rc.Items[0])}, nil
@@ -213,6 +220,8 @@ func TestForceReplaceObjectNotFound(t *testing.T) {
 		NegotiatedSerializer: ns,
 		Client: fake.CreateHTTPClient(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 			switch p, m := req.URL.Path, req.Method; {
+			case p == "/api/v1/namespaces/test" && m == http.MethodGet:
+				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusOK, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: objBody(codec, &api.Namespace{})}, nil
 			case p == "/namespaces/test/replicationcontrollers/redis-master" && (m == http.MethodGet || m == http.MethodDelete):
 				return &http.Response{StatusCode: http.StatusNotFound, Header: defaultHeader(), Body: stringBody("")}, nil
 			case p == "/namespaces/test/replicationcontrollers" && m == http.MethodPost:
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
index 365427c4ea..3f9916961c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/resource/visitor.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
 
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/errors"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/unversioned"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/validation"
@@ -110,6 +112,12 @@ func (i *Info) Visit(fn VisitorFunc) error {
 func (i *Info) Get() (err error) {
 	obj, err := NewHelper(i.Client, i.Mapping).Get(i.Namespace, i.Name, i.Export)
 	if err != nil {
+		if errors.IsNotFound(err) && len(i.Namespace) > 0 && i.Namespace != api.NamespaceDefault && i.Namespace != api.NamespaceAll {
+			err2 := i.Client.Get().AbsPath("api", "v1", "namespaces", i.Namespace).Do().Error()
+			if err2 != nil && errors.IsNotFound(err2) {
+				return err2
+			}
+		}
 		return err
 	}
 	i.Object = obj