diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 23fb488fc..c20bd8c4c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Select a version of `kube` along with the generated [k8s-openapi](https://github
 [dependencies]
 kube = "0.58.1"
 kube-runtime = "0.58.1"
-k8s-openapi = { version = "0.12.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
+k8s-openapi = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
 ```
 
 [Features are available](/~https://github.com/kube-rs/kube-rs/blob/master/kube/Cargo.toml#L18).
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ Kube has basic support ([with caveats](/~https://github.com/kube-rs/kube-rs/issues
 [dependencies]
 kube = { version = "0.58.1", default-features = false, features = ["client", "rustls-tls"] }
 kube-runtime = { version = "0.58.1" }
-k8s-openapi = { version = "0.12.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
+k8s-openapi = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
 ```
 
 This will pull in `rustls` and `hyper-rustls`.
diff --git a/examples/Cargo.toml b/examples/Cargo.toml
index aa37d8046..9e971dc4f 100644
--- a/examples/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ kube = { path = "../kube", version = "^0.58.0", default-features = false, featur
 kube-derive = { path = "../kube-derive", version = "^0.58.0", default-features = false } # only needed to opt out of schema
 kube-runtime = { path = "../kube-runtime", version = "^0.58.0"}
 kube-core = { path = "../kube-core", version = "^0.58.0", default-features = false }
-k8s-openapi = { version = "0.12.0", features = ["v1_20"], default-features = false }
+k8s-openapi = { version = "0.13.0", features = ["v1_20"], default-features = false }
 log = "0.4.11"
 serde = { version = "1.0.118", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.61"
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ snafu = { version = "0.6.10", features = ["futures"] }
 either = "1.6.1"
 schemars = "0.8.0"
 static_assertions = "1.1.0"
-tar = "0.4.32"
+tar = "0.4.35"
 tracing = "0.1"
 tracing-subscriber = "0.2"
 warp = { version = "0.3", features = ["tls"] }
diff --git a/examples/configmapgen_controller.rs b/examples/configmapgen_controller.rs
index acf7a0b6b..e911ebdce 100644
--- a/examples/configmapgen_controller.rs
+++ b/examples/configmapgen_controller.rs
@@ -65,13 +65,13 @@ async fn reconcile(generator: ConfigMapGenerator, ctx: Context<Data>) -> Result<
     let cm = ConfigMap {
         metadata: ObjectMeta {
             name: generator.metadata.name.clone(),
-            owner_references: vec![OwnerReference {
+            owner_references: Some(vec![OwnerReference {
                 controller: Some(true),
                 ..object_to_owner_reference::<ConfigMapGenerator>(generator.metadata.clone())?
-            }],
+            }]),
             ..ObjectMeta::default()
         },
-        data: contents,
+        data: Some(contents),
         ..Default::default()
     };
     let cm_api = Api::<ConfigMap>::namespaced(
diff --git a/examples/crd_api.rs b/examples/crd_api.rs
index 5b1bcc193..56b7f7309 100644
--- a/examples/crd_api.rs
+++ b/examples/crd_api.rs
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             info!(
                 "Deleting {}: ({:?})",
                 o.name(),
-                o.status.unwrap().conditions.last()
+                o.status.unwrap().conditions.unwrap().last()
             );
         })
         .map_right(|s| {
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             info!(
                 "Deleting {} CRD definition: {:?}",
                 o.name(),
-                o.status.unwrap().conditions.last()
+                o.status.unwrap().conditions.unwrap().last()
             );
         }
         Right(status) => {
diff --git a/examples/crd_apply.rs b/examples/crd_apply.rs
index ab70d350d..32a348195 100644
--- a/examples/crd_apply.rs
+++ b/examples/crd_apply.rs
@@ -92,10 +92,12 @@ async fn wait_for_crd_ready(crds: &Api<CustomResourceDefinition>) -> anyhow::Res
         if let WatchEvent::Modified(s) = status {
             info!("Modify event for {}", s.name());
             if let Some(s) = s.status {
-                if let Some(pcond) = s.conditions.iter().find(|c| c.type_ == "NamesAccepted") {
-                    if pcond.status == "True" {
-                        info!("crd was accepted: {:?}", pcond);
-                        return Ok(());
+                if let Some(conds) = s.conditions {
+                    if let Some(pcond) = conds.iter().find(|c| c.type_ == "NamesAccepted") {
+                        if pcond.status == "True" {
+                            info!("crd was accepted: {:?}", pcond);
+                            return Ok(());
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/examples/crd_derive_schema.rs b/examples/crd_derive_schema.rs
index b08a8c5d9..22e5316f7 100644
--- a/examples/crd_derive_schema.rs
+++ b/examples/crd_derive_schema.rs
@@ -235,9 +235,9 @@ async fn create_crd(client: Client) -> Result<CustomResourceDefinition> {
             let accepted = crd
                 .status
                 .as_ref()
-                .map(|s| {
-                    s.conditions
-                        .iter()
+                .and_then(|s| s.conditions.as_ref())
+                .map(|sc| {
+                    sc.iter()
                         .any(|c| c.type_ == "NamesAccepted" && c.status == "True")
                 })
                 .unwrap_or(false);
diff --git a/examples/node_watcher.rs b/examples/node_watcher.rs
index 6bb22a8cc..f3a5fabad 100644
--- a/examples/node_watcher.rs
+++ b/examples/node_watcher.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ async fn check_for_node_failures(events: &Api<Event>, o: Node) -> anyhow::Result
             .status
             .unwrap()
             .conditions
+            .unwrap()
             .into_iter()
             .filter(|c| {
                 // In a failed state either some of the extra conditions are not False
diff --git a/examples/pod_watcher.rs b/examples/pod_watcher.rs
index 092355c96..2b86e85b8 100644
--- a/examples/pod_watcher.rs
+++ b/examples/pod_watcher.rs
@@ -29,18 +29,19 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
 fn pod_unready(p: &Pod) -> Option<String> {
     let status = p.status.as_ref().unwrap();
-    let failed = status
-        .conditions
-        .iter()
-        .filter(|c| c.type_ == "Ready" && c.status == "False")
-        .map(|c| c.message.clone().unwrap_or_default())
-        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-        .join(",");
-    if !failed.is_empty() {
-        if p.metadata.labels.contains_key("job-name") {
-            return None; // ignore job based pods, they are meant to exit 0
+    if let Some(conds) = &status.conditions {
+        let failed = conds
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter(|c| c.type_ == "Ready" && c.status == "False")
+            .map(|c| c.message.clone().unwrap_or_default())
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join(",");
+        if !failed.is_empty() {
+            if p.metadata.labels.as_ref().unwrap().contains_key("job-name") {
+                return None; // ignore job based pods, they are meant to exit 0
+            }
+            return Some(format!("Unready pod {}: {}", p.name(), failed));
         }
-        return Some(format!("Unready pod {}: {}", p.name(), failed));
     }
     None
 }
diff --git a/examples/secret_reflector.rs b/examples/secret_reflector.rs
index 95c6291cb..a5abda1de 100644
--- a/examples/secret_reflector.rs
+++ b/examples/secret_reflector.rs
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@ enum Decoded {
 fn decode(secret: &Secret) -> BTreeMap<String, Decoded> {
     let mut res = BTreeMap::new();
     // Ignoring binary data for now
-    let data = secret.data.clone();
-    for (k, v) in data {
-        if let Ok(b) = std::str::from_utf8(&v.0) {
-            res.insert(k, Decoded::Utf8(b.to_string()));
-        } else {
-            res.insert(k, Decoded::Bytes(v.0));
+    if let Some(data) = secret.data.clone() {
+        for (k, v) in data {
+            if let Ok(b) = std::str::from_utf8(&v.0) {
+                res.insert(k, Decoded::Utf8(b.to_string()));
+            } else {
+                res.insert(k, Decoded::Bytes(v.0));
+            }
         }
     }
     res
diff --git a/kube-core/Cargo.toml b/kube-core/Cargo.toml
index 57289164c..aeb746bff 100644
--- a/kube-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kube-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,14 +23,15 @@ thiserror = "1.0.23"
 form_urlencoded = "1.0.1"
 http = "0.2.2"
 json-patch = { version = "0.2.6", optional = true }
+once_cell = "1.8.0"
 
 [dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 features = []
 
 [dev-dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 features = ["v1_20"]
 
diff --git a/kube-core/src/params.rs b/kube-core/src/params.rs
index 0a2f89d94..27379d869 100644
--- a/kube-core/src/params.rs
+++ b/kube-core/src/params.rs
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ impl PostParams {
 /// use k8s_openapi::apimachinery::pkg::apis::meta::v1::ObjectMeta;
 /// let r = Role {
 ///     metadata: ObjectMeta { name: Some("user".into()), ..ObjectMeta::default() },
-///     rules: vec![]
+///     rules: Some(vec![])
 /// };
 /// let patch = Patch::Apply(&r);
 /// ```
diff --git a/kube-core/src/resource.rs b/kube-core/src/resource.rs
index 48da547a0..d92855a9e 100644
--- a/kube-core/src/resource.rs
+++ b/kube-core/src/resource.rs
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ pub trait ResourceExt: Resource {
     fn finalizers_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Vec<String>;
 }
 
+// TODO: replace with ordinary static when BTreeMap::new() is no longer
+// const-unstable.
+use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+static EMPTY_MAP: Lazy<BTreeMap<String, String>> = Lazy::new(BTreeMap::new);
+
 impl<K: Resource> ResourceExt for K {
     fn name(&self) -> String {
         self.meta().name.clone().expect(".metadata.name missing")
@@ -161,34 +166,34 @@ impl<K: Resource> ResourceExt for K {
     }
 
     fn labels(&self) -> &BTreeMap<String, String> {
-        &self.meta().labels
+        &self.meta().labels.as_ref().unwrap_or_else(|| &*EMPTY_MAP)
     }
 
     fn labels_mut(&mut self) -> &mut BTreeMap<String, String> {
-        &mut self.meta_mut().labels
+        self.meta_mut().labels.get_or_insert_with(BTreeMap::new)
     }
 
     fn annotations(&self) -> &BTreeMap<String, String> {
-        &self.meta().annotations
+        &self.meta().annotations.as_ref().unwrap_or_else(|| &*EMPTY_MAP)
     }
 
     fn annotations_mut(&mut self) -> &mut BTreeMap<String, String> {
-        &mut self.meta_mut().annotations
+        self.meta_mut().annotations.get_or_insert_with(BTreeMap::new)
     }
 
     fn owner_references(&self) -> &[OwnerReference] {
-        self.meta().owner_references.as_slice()
+        self.meta().owner_references.as_deref().unwrap_or_default()
     }
 
     fn owner_references_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Vec<OwnerReference> {
-        &mut self.meta_mut().owner_references
+        self.meta_mut().owner_references.get_or_insert_with(Vec::new)
     }
 
     fn finalizers(&self) -> &[String] {
-        self.meta().finalizers.as_slice()
+        self.meta().finalizers.as_deref().unwrap_or_default()
     }
 
     fn finalizers_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Vec<String> {
-        &mut self.meta_mut().finalizers
+        self.meta_mut().finalizers.get_or_insert_with(Vec::new)
     }
 }
diff --git a/kube-derive/Cargo.toml b/kube-derive/Cargo.toml
index d2936cccd..475c89472 100644
--- a/kube-derive/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kube-derive/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ schema = []
 serde = { version = "1.0.118", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_yaml = "0.8.17"
 kube = { path = "../kube", default-features = false }
-k8s-openapi = { version = "0.12.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
+k8s-openapi = { version = "0.13.0", default-features = false, features = ["v1_20"] }
 schemars = { version = "0.8.0", features = ["chrono"] }
 chrono = "0.4.19"
 trybuild = "1.0"
diff --git a/kube-runtime/Cargo.toml b/kube-runtime/Cargo.toml
index 556358895..d1351c8ff 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kube-runtime/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ json-patch = "0.2.6"
 serde_json = "1.0.64"
 
 [dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 
 [dev-dependencies]
@@ -40,6 +40,6 @@ rand = "0.8.0"
 schemars = "0.8.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 features = ["v1_20"]
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/controller/mod.rs b/kube-runtime/src/controller/mod.rs
index 859e184dd..f8e6d897c 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/controller/mod.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/controller/mod.rs
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ where
         let child_ref = ObjectRef::from_obj_with(&obj, child_type.clone()).erase();
         meta.owner_references
             .into_iter()
+            .flatten()
             .filter_map(move |owner| ObjectRef::from_owner_ref(ns.as_deref(), &owner, owner_type.clone()))
             .map(move |owner_ref| ReconcileRequest {
                 obj_ref: owner_ref,
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/finalizer.rs b/kube-runtime/src/finalizer.rs
index 2fbd7b928..66923ce21 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/finalizer.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/finalizer.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use futures::{TryFuture, TryFutureExt};
 use json_patch::{AddOperation, PatchOperation, RemoveOperation, TestOperation};
 use kube::{
     api::{Patch, PatchParams},
-    Api, Resource,
+    Api, Resource, ResourceExt,
 };
 use serde::{de::DeserializeOwned, Serialize};
 use snafu::{OptionExt, ResultExt, Snafu};
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ impl FinalizerState {
     fn for_object<K: Resource>(obj: &K, finalizer_name: &str) -> Self {
         Self {
             finalizer_index: obj
-                .meta()
-                .finalizers
+                .finalizers()
                 .iter()
                 .enumerate()
                 .find(|(_, fin)| *fin == finalizer_name)
@@ -150,7 +149,7 @@ where
             is_deleting: false,
         } => {
             // Finalizer must be added before it's safe to run an `Apply` reconciliation
-            let patch = json_patch::Patch(if obj.meta().finalizers.is_empty() {
+            let patch = json_patch::Patch(if obj.finalizers().is_empty() {
                 vec![
                     PatchOperation::Test(TestOperation {
                         path: "/metadata/finalizers".to_string(),
diff --git a/kube-runtime/src/reflector/mod.rs b/kube-runtime/src/reflector/mod.rs
index 6051cbaa7..12bf7497c 100644
--- a/kube-runtime/src/reflector/mod.rs
+++ b/kube-runtime/src/reflector/mod.rs
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ mod tests {
             ..ConfigMap::default()
         };
         let updated_cm = ConfigMap {
-            data: {
+            data: Some({
                 let mut data = BTreeMap::new();
                 data.insert("data".to_string(), "present!".to_string());
                 data
-            },
+            }),
             ..cm.clone()
         };
         reflector(
diff --git a/kube/Cargo.toml b/kube/Cargo.toml
index 95954b5f1..285725631 100644
--- a/kube/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kube/Cargo.toml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ rand = { version = "0.8.3", optional = true }
 tracing = { version = "0.1.25", features = ["log"], optional = true }
 
 [dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 features = []
 
@@ -85,6 +85,6 @@ tokio-test = "0.4.0"
 tower-test = "0.4.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies.k8s-openapi]
-version = "0.12.0"
+version = "0.13.0"
 default-features = false
 features = ["v1_20"]
diff --git a/kube/src/client/mod.rs b/kube/src/client/mod.rs
index 2f3048c31..798897b59 100644
--- a/kube/src/client/mod.rs
+++ b/kube/src/client/mod.rs
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         let pods: Api<Pod> = Api::default_namespaced(Client::new(mock_service, "default"));
         let pod = pods.get("test").await.unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(pod.metadata.annotations.get("kube-rs").unwrap(), "test");
+        assert_eq!(pod.metadata.annotations.unwrap().get("kube-rs").unwrap(), "test");
         spawned.await.unwrap();
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Cargo.toml b/tests/Cargo.toml
index edd21f057..e9e93bd58 100644
--- a/tests/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tests/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ anyhow = "1.0.37"
 env_logger = "0.8.2"
 futures = "0.3.8"
 kube = { path = "../kube", version = "^0.58.1", default-features = false, features = ["client", "rustls-tls"] }
-k8s-openapi = { version = "0.12.0", features = ["v1_20"], default-features = false }
+k8s-openapi = { version = "0.13.0", features = ["v1_20"], default-features = false }
 log = "0.4.11"
 serde_json = "1.0.61"
 tokio = { version = "1.0.1", features = ["full"] }