diff --git a/api/filters/refvar/refvar.go b/api/filters/refvar/refvar.go
index a2b6fa949..016c574ec 100644
--- a/api/filters/refvar/refvar.go
+++ b/api/filters/refvar/refvar.go
@@ -47,12 +47,21 @@ func (f Filter) set(node *yaml.RNode) error {
 
 func updateNodeValue(node *yaml.Node, newValue interface{}) {
 	switch newValue := newValue.(type) {
+	case int:
+		node.Value = strconv.FormatInt(int64(newValue), 10)
+		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagInt
+	case int32:
+		node.Value = strconv.FormatInt(int64(newValue), 10)
+		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagInt
 	case int64:
 		node.Value = strconv.FormatInt(newValue, 10)
 		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagInt
 	case bool:
 		node.SetString(strconv.FormatBool(newValue))
 		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagBool
+	case float32:
+		node.SetString(strconv.FormatFloat(float64(newValue), 'f', -1, 32))
+		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagFloat
 	case float64:
 		node.SetString(strconv.FormatFloat(newValue, 'f', -1, 64))
 		node.Tag = yaml.NodeTagFloat
diff --git a/api/internal/wrappy/wnode.go b/api/internal/wrappy/wnode.go
index ee9108f49..cf8626e21 100644
--- a/api/internal/wrappy/wnode.go
+++ b/api/internal/wrappy/wnode.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"regexp"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/ifc"
@@ -127,9 +128,29 @@ func (wn *WNode) GetFieldValue(path string) (interface{}, error) {
 		}
 		return result, nil
 	}
+	if yn.Kind != yaml.ScalarNode {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected ScalarNode, got Kind=%d", yn.Kind)
+	}
 
-	// Return value value directly for all other (ScalarNode) kinds
-	return yn.Value, nil
+	// TODO: When doing kustomize var replacement, which is likely a
+	// a primary use of this function and the reason it returns interface{}
+	// rather than string, we do conversion from Nodes to Go types and back
+	// to nodes.  We should figure out how to do replacement using raw nodes,
+	// assuming we keep the var feature in kustomize.
+	// The other end of this is: refvar.go:updateNodeValue.
+	switch yn.Tag {
+	case yaml.NodeTagString:
+		return yn.Value, nil
+	case yaml.NodeTagInt:
+		return strconv.Atoi(yn.Value)
+	case yaml.NodeTagFloat:
+		return strconv.ParseFloat(yn.Value, 64)
+	case yaml.NodeTagBool:
+		return strconv.ParseBool(yn.Value)
+	default:
+		// Possibly this should be an error or log.
+		return yn.Value, nil
+	}
 }
 
 // GetGvk implements ifc.Kunstructured.
diff --git a/api/krusty/variableref_test.go b/api/krusty/variableref_test.go
index b3302285d..5c1912d6a 100644
--- a/api/krusty/variableref_test.go
+++ b/api/krusty/variableref_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 package krusty_test
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -404,9 +403,8 @@ spec:
         - containerPort: 8888
           name: http
 `)
-	opts := th.MakeDefaultOptions()
-	m := th.Run(".", opts)
-	expFmt := `
+	m := th.Run(".", th.MakeDefaultOptions())
+	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(m, `
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service
 metadata:
@@ -414,8 +412,8 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   ports:
   - name: grpc
-    port: %s
-    targetPort: %s
+    port: 8888
+    targetPort: 8888
 ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1beta1
 kind: StatefulSet
@@ -432,13 +430,7 @@ spec:
           name: grpc
         - containerPort: 8888
           name: http
-`
-	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(m,
-		// TODO(#3304): DECISION - quotes bad here, this is a bug.
-		opts.IfApiMachineryElseKyaml(
-			fmt.Sprintf(expFmt, `8888`, `8888`),
-			fmt.Sprintf(expFmt, `"8888"`, `"8888"`),
-		))
+`)
 }
 
 // TODO(3449): Yield bare primitives in var replacements from configmaps.
@@ -551,7 +543,6 @@ metadata:
 
 func TestVarRefBig(t *testing.T) {
 	th := kusttest_test.MakeHarness(t)
-	opts := th.MakeDefaultOptions()
 	th.WriteK("/app/base", `
 namePrefix: base-
 resources:
@@ -868,8 +859,8 @@ namePrefix: dev-
 resources:
 - ../../base
 `)
-	m := th.Run("/app/overlay/staging", opts)
-	expFmt := `
+	m := th.Run("/app/overlay/staging", th.MakeDefaultOptions())
+	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(m, `
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
@@ -956,8 +947,8 @@ spec:
     port: 26257
     targetPort: 26257
   - name: http
-    port: %s
-    targetPort: %s
+    port: 8080
+    targetPort: 8080
   selector:
     app: cockroachdb
 ---
@@ -973,8 +964,8 @@ spec:
     port: 26257
     targetPort: 26257
   - name: http
-    port: %s
-    targetPort: %s
+    port: 8080
+    targetPort: 8080
   selector:
     app: cockroachdb
 ---
@@ -1011,8 +1002,8 @@ spec:
         - --host $(hostname -f)
         - --http-host 0.0.0.0
         - --join dev-base-cockroachdb-0.dev-base-cockroachdb,dev-base-cockroachdb-1.dev-base-cockroachdb,dev-base-cockroachdb-2.dev-base-cockroachdb
-        - --cache 25%%
-        - --max-sql-memory 25%%
+        - --cache 25%
+        - --max-sql-memory 25%
         image: cockroachdb/cockroach:v1.1.5
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         name: cockroachdb
@@ -1112,13 +1103,7 @@ data:
 kind: ConfigMap
 metadata:
   name: dev-base-test-config-map-6b85g79g7g
-`
-	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(m,
-		// TODO(#3304): DECISION - quotes bad here, this still a bug.
-		opts.IfApiMachineryElseKyaml(
-			fmt.Sprintf(expFmt, `8080`, `8080`, `8080`, `8080`),
-			fmt.Sprintf(expFmt, `"8080"`, `"8080"`, `"8080"`, `"8080"`),
-		))
+`)
 }
 
 func TestVariableRefIngressBasic(t *testing.T) {