diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
index a44651c47a..f884b648f5 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@ limitations under the License.
 package handlers
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/conversion/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/json"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
 
 	"github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
index 0f4e6ac121..357cd7294f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/rest_test.go
@@ -284,6 +284,37 @@ func (tc *patchTestCase) Run(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestNumberConversion(t *testing.T) {
+	codec := api.Codecs.LegacyCodec(schema.GroupVersion{Version: "v1"})
+
+	currentVersionedObject := &v1.Service{
+		TypeMeta:   metav1.TypeMeta{Kind: "Service", APIVersion: "v1"},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "test-service"},
+		Spec: v1.ServiceSpec{
+			Ports: []v1.ServicePort{
+				{
+					Port:     80,
+					Protocol: "TCP",
+					NodePort: 31678,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	versionedObjToUpdate := &v1.Service{}
+	versionedObj := &v1.Service{}
+
+	patchJS := []byte(`{"spec":{"ports":[{"port":80,"nodePort":31789}]}}`)
+
+	_, _, err := strategicPatchObject(codec, currentVersionedObject, patchJS, versionedObjToUpdate, versionedObj)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	ports := versionedObjToUpdate.Spec.Ports
+	if len(ports) != 1 || ports[0].Port != 80 || ports[0].NodePort != 31789 {
+		t.Fatal(errors.New("Ports failed to merge because of number conversion issue"))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPatchResourceWithVersionConflict(t *testing.T) {
 	namespace := "bar"
 	name := "foo"
diff --git a/vendor/BUILD b/vendor/BUILD
index ecba0181ae..4fa82474b3 100644
--- a/vendor/BUILD
+++ b/vendor/BUILD
@@ -10023,6 +10023,7 @@ go_library(
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer/streaming",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/httpstream",
+        "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/json",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/mergepatch",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime",