diff --git a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
index c99006af06..4ba51cd186 100644
--- a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
+++ b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ var (
 	templateStr   = flag.String("template", "", "If present, parse this string as a golang template and use it for output printing")
 )
 
+var parser = kubecfg.NewParser(map[string]interface{}{
+	"pods":                   api.Pod{},
+	"services":               api.Service{},
+	"replicationControllers": api.ReplicationController{},
+	"minions":                api.Minion{},
+})
+
 func usage() {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, `usage: kubecfg -h [-c config/file.json] [-p :,..., :] <method>
 
@@ -71,10 +78,11 @@ func usage() {
   Options:
 `, prettyWireStorage())
 	flag.PrintDefaults()
+
 }
 
 func prettyWireStorage() string {
-	types := kubecfg.SupportedWireStorage()
+	types := parser.SupportedWireStorage()
 	sort.Strings(types)
 	return strings.Join(types, "|")
 }
@@ -89,7 +97,7 @@ func readConfig(storage string) []byte {
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatalf("Unable to read %v: %v\n", *config, err)
 	}
-	data, err = kubecfg.ToWireFormat(data, storage)
+	data, err = parser.ToWireFormat(data, storage)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatalf("Error parsing %v as an object for %v: %v\n", *config, storage, err)
 	}
@@ -190,7 +198,7 @@ func storagePathFromArg(arg string) (storage, path string, hasSuffix bool) {
 
 //checkStorage returns true if the provided storage is valid
 func checkStorage(storage string) bool {
-	for _, allowed := range kubecfg.SupportedWireStorage() {
+	for _, allowed := range parser.SupportedWireStorage() {
 		if allowed == storage {
 			return true
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/parse.go b/pkg/kubecfg/parse.go
index a09328db94..984747c47e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/parse.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/parse.go
@@ -23,17 +23,22 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 )
 
-var storageToType = map[string]reflect.Type{
-	"pods":                   reflect.TypeOf(api.Pod{}),
-	"services":               reflect.TypeOf(api.Service{}),
-	"replicationControllers": reflect.TypeOf(api.ReplicationController{}),
-	"minions":                reflect.TypeOf(api.Minion{}),
+type Parser struct {
+	storageToType map[string]reflect.Type
+}
+
+func NewParser(objectMap map[string]interface{}) *Parser {
+	typeMap := make(map[string]reflect.Type)
+	for name, obj := range objectMap {
+		typeMap[name] = reflect.TypeOf(obj)
+	}
+	return &Parser{typeMap}
 }
 
 // ToWireFormat takes input 'data' as either json or yaml, checks that it parses as the
 // appropriate object type, and returns json for sending to the API or an error.
-func ToWireFormat(data []byte, storage string) ([]byte, error) {
-	prototypeType, found := storageToType[storage]
+func (p *Parser) ToWireFormat(data []byte, storage string) ([]byte, error) {
+	prototypeType, found := p.storageToType[storage]
 	if !found {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown storage type: %v", storage)
 	}
@@ -46,9 +51,9 @@ func ToWireFormat(data []byte, storage string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return api.Encode(obj)
 }
 
-func SupportedWireStorage() []string {
+func (p *Parser) SupportedWireStorage() []string {
 	types := []string{}
-	for k := range storageToType {
+	for k := range p.storageToType {
 		types = append(types, k)
 	}
 	return types
diff --git a/pkg/kubecfg/parse_test.go b/pkg/kubecfg/parse_test.go
index 1fd36ad9e1..baada2514e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubecfg/parse_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubecfg/parse_test.go
@@ -24,19 +24,20 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestParseBadStorage(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := ToWireFormat([]byte("{}"), "badstorage")
+	p := NewParser(map[string]interface{}{})
+	_, err := p.ToWireFormat([]byte("{}"), "badstorage")
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Expected error, received none")
 	}
 }
 
-func DoParseTest(t *testing.T, storage string, obj interface{}) {
+func DoParseTest(t *testing.T, storage string, obj interface{}, p *Parser) {
 	jsonData, _ := api.Encode(obj)
 	yamlData, _ := yaml.Marshal(obj)
 	t.Logf("Intermediate yaml:\n%v\n", string(yamlData))
 	t.Logf("Intermediate json:\n%v\n", string(jsonData))
-	jsonGot, jsonErr := ToWireFormat(jsonData, storage)
-	yamlGot, yamlErr := ToWireFormat(yamlData, storage)
+	jsonGot, jsonErr := p.ToWireFormat(jsonData, storage)
+	yamlGot, yamlErr := p.ToWireFormat(yamlData, storage)
 
 	if jsonErr != nil {
 		t.Errorf("json err: %#v", jsonErr)
@@ -54,6 +55,12 @@ func DoParseTest(t *testing.T, storage string, obj interface{}) {
 	}
 }
 
+var testParser = NewParser(map[string]interface{}{
+	"pods":                   api.Pod{},
+	"services":               api.Service{},
+	"replicationControllers": api.ReplicationController{},
+})
+
 func TestParsePod(t *testing.T) {
 	DoParseTest(t, "pods", api.Pod{
 		JSONBase: api.JSONBase{APIVersion: "v1beta1", ID: "test pod", Kind: "Pod"},
@@ -68,7 +75,7 @@ func TestParsePod(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-	})
+	}, testParser)
 }
 
 func TestParseService(t *testing.T) {
@@ -81,7 +88,7 @@ func TestParseService(t *testing.T) {
 		Selector: map[string]string{
 			"area": "staging",
 		},
-	})
+	}, testParser)
 }
 
 func TestParseController(t *testing.T) {
@@ -103,5 +110,22 @@ func TestParseController(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-	})
+	}, testParser)
+}
+
+type TestParseType struct {
+	api.JSONBase `json:",inline" yaml:",inline"`
+	Data         string `json:"data" yaml:"data"`
+}
+
+func TestParseCustomType(t *testing.T) {
+	api.AddKnownTypes("", TestParseType{})
+	api.AddKnownTypes("v1beta1", TestParseType{})
+	parser := NewParser(map[string]interface{}{
+		"custom": TestParseType{},
+	})
+	DoParseTest(t, "custom", TestParseType{
+		JSONBase: api.JSONBase{APIVersion: "", ID: "my custom object", Kind: "TestParseType"},
+		Data:     "test data",
+	}, parser)
 }