diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/resthandler.go b/pkg/apiserver/resthandler.go
index f449dc88b1..a20e78ad8b 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/resthandler.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/resthandler.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/errors"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/rest"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/fields"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
 
@@ -180,6 +181,15 @@ func ListResource(r rest.Lister, rw rest.Watcher, scope RequestScope, forceWatch
 			errorJSON(err, scope.Codec, w)
 			return
 		}
+
+		// Watches for single objects are routed to this function.
+		// Treat a /name parameter the same as a field selector entry.
+		hasName := true
+		_, name, err := scope.Namer.Name(req)
+		if err != nil {
+			hasName = false
+		}
+
 		ctx := scope.ContextFunc(req)
 		ctx = api.WithNamespace(ctx, namespace)
 
@@ -191,6 +201,7 @@ func ListResource(r rest.Lister, rw rest.Watcher, scope RequestScope, forceWatch
 		opts := *out.(*api.ListOptions)
 
 		// transform fields
+		// TODO: queryToObject should do this.
 		fn := func(label, value string) (newLabel, newValue string, err error) {
 			return scope.Convertor.ConvertFieldLabel(scope.APIVersion, scope.Kind, label, value)
 		}
@@ -201,6 +212,27 @@ func ListResource(r rest.Lister, rw rest.Watcher, scope RequestScope, forceWatch
 			return
 		}
 
+		if hasName {
+			// metadata.name is the canonical internal name.
+			// generic.SelectionPredicate will notice that this is
+			// a request for a single object and optimize the
+			// storage query accordingly.
+			nameSelector := fields.OneTermEqualSelector("metadata.name", name)
+			if opts.FieldSelector != nil && !opts.FieldSelector.Empty() {
+				// It doesn't make sense to ask for both a name
+				// and a field selector, since just the name is
+				// sufficient to narrow down the request to a
+				// single object.
+				errorJSON(
+					errors.NewBadRequest("both a name and a field selector provided; please provide one or the other."),
+					scope.Codec,
+					w,
+				)
+				return
+			}
+			opts.FieldSelector = nameSelector
+		}
+
 		if (opts.Watch || forceWatch) && rw != nil {
 			watcher, err := rw.Watch(ctx, opts.LabelSelector, opts.FieldSelector, opts.ResourceVersion)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/registry/endpoint/rest.go b/pkg/registry/endpoint/rest.go
index ae96bdd206..a9dbe6757d 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/endpoint/rest.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/endpoint/rest.go
@@ -75,20 +75,17 @@ func (endpointsStrategy) ValidateUpdate(ctx api.Context, obj, old runtime.Object
 
 // MatchEndpoints returns a generic matcher for a given label and field selector.
 func MatchEndpoints(label labels.Selector, field fields.Selector) generic.Matcher {
-	return generic.MatcherFunc(func(obj runtime.Object) (bool, error) {
-		endpoints, ok := obj.(*api.Endpoints)
-		if !ok {
-			return false, fmt.Errorf("not a endpoints")
-		}
-		fields := EndpointsToSelectableFields(endpoints)
-		return label.Matches(labels.Set(endpoints.Labels)) && field.Matches(fields), nil
-	})
+	return &generic.SelectionPredicate{label, field, EndpointsAttributes}
 }
 
-// EndpointsToSelectableFields returns a label set that represents the object
-// TODO: fields are not labels, and the validation rules for them do not apply.
-func EndpointsToSelectableFields(endpoints *api.Endpoints) labels.Set {
-	return labels.Set{
-		"name": endpoints.Name,
+// EndpointsAttributes returns the attributes of an endpoint such that a
+// generic.SelectionPredicate can match appropriately.
+func EndpointsAttributes(obj runtime.Object) (objLabels labels.Set, objFields fields.Set, err error) {
+	endpoints, ok := obj.(*api.Endpoints)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid object type %#v", obj)
 	}
+	return endpoints.Labels, fields.Set{
+		"metadata.name": endpoints.Name,
+	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/registry/event/rest.go b/pkg/registry/event/rest.go
index 0c45dd7204..4b1114a4e8 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/event/rest.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/event/rest.go
@@ -117,7 +117,12 @@ func (rs *REST) getAttrs(obj runtime.Object) (objLabels labels.Set, objFields fi
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid object type")
 	}
-	return labels.Set{}, fields.Set{
+	l := event.Labels
+	if l == nil {
+		l = labels.Set{}
+	}
+	return l, fields.Set{
+		"metadata.name":                  event.Name,
 		"involvedObject.kind":            event.InvolvedObject.Kind,
 		"involvedObject.namespace":       event.InvolvedObject.Namespace,
 		"involvedObject.name":            event.InvolvedObject.Name,
diff --git a/pkg/registry/event/rest_test.go b/pkg/registry/event/rest_test.go
index eda2e22edc..20df218c45 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/event/rest_test.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/event/rest_test.go
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ func TestRESTGet(t *testing.T) {
 func TestRESTgetAttrs(t *testing.T) {
 	_, rest := NewTestREST()
 	eventA := &api.Event{
+		ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{Name: "f0118"},
 		InvolvedObject: api.ObjectReference{
 			Kind:            "Pod",
 			Name:            "foo",
@@ -182,6 +183,7 @@ func TestRESTgetAttrs(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("diff: %s", util.ObjectDiff(e, a))
 	}
 	expect := fields.Set{
+		"metadata.name":                  "f0118",
 		"involvedObject.kind":            "Pod",
 		"involvedObject.name":            "foo",
 		"involvedObject.namespace":       "baz",
diff --git a/pkg/registry/generic/etcd/etcd.go b/pkg/registry/generic/etcd/etcd.go
index 5bb51f5491..3ee88f489b 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/generic/etcd/etcd.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/generic/etcd/etcd.go
@@ -417,7 +417,8 @@ func (e *Etcd) finalizeDelete(obj runtime.Object, runHooks bool) (runtime.Object
 
 // Watch makes a matcher for the given label and field, and calls
 // WatchPredicate. If possible, you should customize PredicateFunc to produre a
-// matcher that matches by key.
+// matcher that matches by key. generic.SelectionPredicate does this for you
+// automatically.
 func (e *Etcd) Watch(ctx api.Context, label labels.Selector, field fields.Selector, resourceVersion string) (watch.Interface, error) {
 	return e.WatchPredicate(ctx, e.PredicateFunc(label, field), resourceVersion)
 }
diff --git a/test/integration/client_test.go b/test/integration/client_test.go
index 65f32870e7..66f59d8b2b 100644
--- a/test/integration/client_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/client_test.go
@@ -110,6 +110,83 @@ func TestClient(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSingleWatch(t *testing.T) {
+	_, s := runAMaster(t)
+	defer s.Close()
+
+	ns := "blargh"
+	deleteAllEtcdKeys()
+	client := client.NewOrDie(&client.Config{Host: s.URL, Version: testapi.Version()})
+
+	mkEvent := func(i int) *api.Event {
+		name := fmt.Sprintf("event-%v", i)
+		return &api.Event{
+			ObjectMeta: api.ObjectMeta{
+				Namespace: ns,
+				Name:      name,
+			},
+			InvolvedObject: api.ObjectReference{
+				Namespace: ns,
+				Name:      name,
+			},
+			Reason: fmt.Sprintf("event %v", i),
+		}
+	}
+
+	rv1 := ""
+	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+		event := mkEvent(i)
+		got, err := client.Events(ns).Create(event)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed creating event %#q: %v", event, err)
+		}
+		if rv1 == "" {
+			rv1 = got.ResourceVersion
+			if rv1 == "" {
+				t.Fatal("did not get a resource version.")
+			}
+		}
+		t.Logf("Created event %#v", got.ObjectMeta)
+	}
+
+	w, err := client.Get().
+		Prefix("watch").
+		NamespaceIfScoped(ns, len(ns) > 0).
+		Resource("events").
+		Name("event-9").
+		Param("resourceVersion", rv1).
+		Watch()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed watch: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer w.Stop()
+
+	select {
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("watch took longer than 15 seconds")
+	case got, ok := <-w.ResultChan():
+		if !ok {
+			t.Fatal("Watch channel closed unexpectedly.")
+		}
+
+		// We expect to see an ADD of event-9 and only event-9. (This
+		// catches a bug where all the events would have been sent down
+		// the channel.)
+		if e, a := watch.Added, got.Type; e != a {
+			t.Errorf("Wanted %v, got %v", e, a)
+		}
+		switch o := got.Object.(type) {
+		case *api.Event:
+			if e, a := "event-9", o.Name; e != a {
+				t.Errorf("Wanted %v, got %v", e, a)
+			}
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("Unexpected watch event containing object %#q", got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestMultiWatch(t *testing.T) {
 	// Disable this test as long as it demonstrates a problem.
 	// TODO: Reenable this test when we get #6059 resolved.