diff --git a/pkg/expansion/expand_test.go b/pkg/expansion/expand_test.go
index ecdff304c..e418e33a1 100644
--- a/pkg/expansion/expand_test.go
+++ b/pkg/expansion/expand_test.go
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ package expansion
 
 import (
 	"testing"
-
-	api "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
 
 func TestMapReference(t *testing.T) {
-	envs := []api.EnvVar{
+	type env struct {
+		Name  string
+		Value string
+	}
+	envs := []env{
 		{
 			Name:  "FOO",
 			Value: "bar",
diff --git a/pkg/target/kusttarget.go b/pkg/target/kusttarget.go
index e2b331959..ae95e2df8 100644
--- a/pkg/target/kusttarget.go
+++ b/pkg/target/kusttarget.go
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/constants"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/crds"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/fs"
-	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/gvk"
 	interror "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/internal/error"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/loader"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/patch"
@@ -296,8 +295,7 @@ func (kt *KustTarget) resolveRefVars(m resmap.ResMap) (map[string]string, error)
 		return result, err
 	}
 	for _, v := range vars {
-		id := resource.NewResId(
-			gvk.FromSchemaGvk(v.ObjRef.GroupVersionKind()), v.ObjRef.Name)
+		id := resource.NewResId(v.ObjRef.GVK(), v.ObjRef.Name)
 		if r, found := m.DemandOneMatchForId(id); found {
 			s, err := r.GetFieldValue(v.FieldRef.FieldPath)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/types/var.go b/pkg/types/var.go
index d3b2e73e5..4d48c9619 100644
--- a/pkg/types/var.go
+++ b/pkg/types/var.go
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package types
 
 import (
-	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/gvk"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // Var represents a variable whose value will be sourced
@@ -31,18 +32,51 @@ type Var struct {
 	// purview of this kustomization. ObjRef should use the
 	// raw name of the object (the name specified in its YAML,
 	// before addition of a namePrefix).
-	ObjRef corev1.ObjectReference `json:"objref" yaml:"objref"`
+	ObjRef Target `json:"objref" yaml:"objref"`
 
 	// FieldRef refers to the field of the object referred to by
 	// ObjRef whose value will be extracted for use in
 	// replacing $(FOO).
-	// If unspecified, this defaults to fieldpath: metadata.name
-	FieldRef corev1.ObjectFieldSelector `json:"fieldref,omitempty" yaml:"objref,omitempty"`
+	// If unspecified, this defaults to fieldPath: metadata.name
+	FieldRef FieldSelector `json:"fieldref,omitempty" yaml:"fieldref,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// Target refers to a kubernetes object by Group, Version, Kind and Name
+// gvk.Gvk contains Group, Version and Kind
+// APIVersion is added to keep the backward compatibility of using ObjectReference
+// for Var.ObjRef
+type Target struct {
+	APIVersion string `json:"apiVersion,omitempty" yaml:"apiVersion,omitempty"`
+	gvk.Gvk    `json:",inline,omitempty" yaml:",inline,omitempty"`
+	Name       string `json:"name" yaml:"name"`
+}
+
+// FieldSelector contains the fieldPath to an object field, such as metadata.name
+// This struct is added to keep the backward compatibility of using ObjectFieldSelector
+// for Var.FieldRef
+type FieldSelector struct {
+	FieldPath string `json:"fieldPath,omitempty" yaml:"fieldPath,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Defaulting sets reference to field used by default.
 func (v *Var) Defaulting() {
-	if (corev1.ObjectFieldSelector{}) == v.FieldRef {
-		v.FieldRef = corev1.ObjectFieldSelector{FieldPath: "metadata.name"}
+	if v.FieldRef.FieldPath == "" {
+		v.FieldRef.FieldPath = "metadata.name"
 	}
 }
+
+// GVK returns the Gvk object in Target
+func (t *Target) GVK() gvk.Gvk {
+	if t.APIVersion == "" {
+		return t.Gvk
+	}
+	versions := strings.Split(t.APIVersion, "/")
+	if len(versions) == 2 {
+		t.Group = versions[0]
+		t.Version = versions[1]
+	}
+	if len(versions) == 1 {
+		t.Version = versions[0]
+	}
+	return t.Gvk
+}
diff --git a/pkg/types/var_test.go b/pkg/types/var_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee2b7205a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/types/var_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package types
+
+import (
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
+	"reflect"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/pkg/gvk"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestGVK(t *testing.T) {
+	type testcase struct {
+		data     string
+		expected gvk.Gvk
+	}
+
+	testcases := []testcase{
+		{
+			data: `
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Secret
+name: my-secret
+`,
+			expected: gvk.Gvk{Group: "", Version: "v1", Kind: "Secret"},
+		},
+		{
+			data: `
+apiVersion: myapps/v1
+kind: MyKind
+name: my-kind
+`,
+			expected: gvk.Gvk{Group: "myapps", Version: "v1", Kind: "MyKind"},
+		},
+		{
+			data: `
+version: v2
+kind: MyKind
+name: my-kind
+`,
+			expected: gvk.Gvk{Version: "v2", Kind: "MyKind"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		var targ Target
+		err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(tc.data), &targ)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Unexpected error %v", err)
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(targ.GVK(), tc.expected) {
+			t.Fatalf("Expected %v, but got %v", tc.expected, targ.GVK())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDefaulting(t *testing.T) {
+	v := &Var{
+		Name: "SOME_VARIABLE_NAME",
+		ObjRef: Target{
+			Gvk: gvk.Gvk{
+				Version: "v1",
+				Kind:    "Secret",
+			},
+			Name: "my-secret",
+		},
+	}
+	v.Defaulting()
+	if v.FieldRef.FieldPath != "metadata.name" {
+		t.Fatalf("var defaulting doesn't behave correctly.\n expected metadata.name, but got %v", v.FieldRef.FieldPath)
+	}
+}