diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/watch.go b/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
index 8094ac9c00..b62693822f 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
@@ -167,18 +167,22 @@ func (s *WatchServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	flusher.Flush()
 
+	var unknown runtime.Unknown
+	internalEvent := &versioned.InternalEvent{}
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	ch := s.watching.ResultChan()
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-cn.CloseNotify():
 			return
 		case <-timeoutCh:
 			return
-		case event, ok := <-s.watching.ResultChan():
+		case event, ok := <-ch:
 			if !ok {
 				// End of results.
 				return
 			}
+
 			obj := event.Object
 			s.fixup(obj)
 			if err := s.embeddedEncoder.EncodeToStream(obj, buf); err != nil {
@@ -186,12 +190,15 @@ func (s *WatchServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 				utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unable to encode watch object: %v", err))
 				return
 			}
-			event.Object = &runtime.Unknown{
-				Raw: buf.Bytes(),
-				// ContentType is not required here because we are defaulting to the serializer
-				// type
-			}
-			if err := e.Encode((*versioned.InternalEvent)(&event)); err != nil {
+
+			// ContentType is not required here because we are defaulting to the serializer
+			// type
+			unknown.Raw = buf.Bytes()
+			event.Object = &unknown
+
+			// the internal event will be versioned by the encoder
+			*internalEvent = versioned.InternalEvent(event)
+			if err := e.Encode(internalEvent); err != nil {
 				utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unable to encode watch object: %v (%#v)", err, e))
 				// client disconnect.
 				return
@@ -208,14 +215,18 @@ func (s *WatchServer) HandleWS(ws *websocket.Conn) {
 	defer ws.Close()
 	done := make(chan struct{})
 	go wsstream.IgnoreReceives(ws, 0)
+
+	var unknown runtime.Unknown
+	internalEvent := &versioned.InternalEvent{}
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
 	streamBuf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	ch := s.watching.ResultChan()
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-done:
 			s.watching.Stop()
 			return
-		case event, ok := <-s.watching.ResultChan():
+		case event, ok := <-ch:
 			if !ok {
 				// End of results.
 				return
@@ -227,14 +238,15 @@ func (s *WatchServer) HandleWS(ws *websocket.Conn) {
 				utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unable to encode watch object: %v", err))
 				return
 			}
-			event.Object = &runtime.Unknown{
-				Raw: buf.Bytes(),
-				// ContentType is not required here because we are defaulting to the serializer
-				// type
-			}
+
+			// ContentType is not required here because we are defaulting to the serializer
+			// type
+			unknown.Raw = buf.Bytes()
+			event.Object = &unknown
+
 			// the internal event will be versioned by the encoder
-			internalEvent := versioned.InternalEvent(event)
-			if err := s.encoder.EncodeToStream(&internalEvent, streamBuf); err != nil {
+			*internalEvent = versioned.InternalEvent(event)
+			if err := s.encoder.EncodeToStream(internalEvent, streamBuf); err != nil {
 				// encoding error
 				utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unable to encode event: %v", err))
 				s.watching.Stop()