diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/BUILD b/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/BUILD
index 988d7ecc22..b0c4d44ed4 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/BUILD
@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@ go_library(
     importpath = "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
-        "//pkg/client/clientset_generated/internalclientset:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubectl/describe:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/printers:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/printers/internalversion:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions:go_default_library",
-        "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/dynamic:go_default_library",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/describe.go b/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/describe.go
index 7246126ed9..b79b9ca20e 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/describe.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/describe/versioned/describe.go
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/clientset_generated/internalclientset"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/describe"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/printers"
 	printersinternal "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/printers/internalversion"
@@ -42,32 +40,9 @@ func Describer(restClientGetter genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter, mapping *met
 		return describer, nil
 	}
 	// if this is a kind we don't have a describer for yet, go generic if possible
-	if genericDescriber, genericErr := genericDescriber(restClientGetter, mapping); genericErr == nil {
+	if genericDescriber, ok := printersinternal.GenericDescriberFor(mapping, clientConfig); ok {
 		return genericDescriber, nil
 	}
 	// otherwise return an unregistered error
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("no description has been implemented for %s", mapping.GroupVersionKind.String())
 }
-
-// helper function to make a generic describer, or return an error
-func genericDescriber(restClientGetter genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter, mapping *meta.RESTMapping) (printers.Describer, error) {
-	clientConfig, err := restClientGetter.ToRESTConfig()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	// used to fetch the resource
-	dynamicClient, err := dynamic.NewForConfig(clientConfig)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	// used to get events for the resource
-	clientSet, err := internalclientset.NewForConfig(clientConfig)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	eventsClient := clientSet.Core()
-	return printersinternal.GenericDescriberFor(mapping, dynamicClient, eventsClient), nil
-}
diff --git a/pkg/printers/internalversion/describe.go b/pkg/printers/internalversion/describe.go
index 8549447de8..f4f848931a 100644
--- a/pkg/printers/internalversion/describe.go
+++ b/pkg/printers/internalversion/describe.go
@@ -195,8 +195,21 @@ func DescriberFor(kind schema.GroupKind, clientConfig *rest.Config) (printers.De
 
 // GenericDescriberFor returns a generic describer for the specified mapping
 // that uses only information available from runtime.Unstructured
-func GenericDescriberFor(mapping *meta.RESTMapping, dynamic dynamic.Interface, events coreclient.EventsGetter) printers.Describer {
-	return &genericDescriber{mapping, dynamic, events}
+func GenericDescriberFor(mapping *meta.RESTMapping, clientConfig *rest.Config) (printers.Describer, bool) {
+	// used to fetch the resource
+	dynamicClient, err := dynamic.NewForConfig(clientConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, false
+	}
+
+	// used to get events for the resource
+	clientSet, err := clientset.NewForConfig(clientConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, false
+	}
+	eventsClient := clientSet.Core()
+
+	return &genericDescriber{mapping, dynamicClient, eventsClient}, true
 }
 
 type genericDescriber struct {