diff --git a/pkg/resmap/resmap.go b/pkg/resmap/resmap.go
index b83ecebd7..4f901174b 100644
--- a/pkg/resmap/resmap.go
+++ b/pkg/resmap/resmap.go
@@ -134,13 +134,21 @@ type ResMap interface {
 	// Clear removes all resources and Ids.
 	Clear()
 
-	// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy returns a ResMap subset
+	// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById returns a ResMap subset
 	// of self with resources that could be referenced by the
 	// resource represented by the argument Id.
 	// This is a filter; it excludes things that cannot be
 	// referenced by the Id's resource, e.g. objects in other
 	// namespaces. Cluster wide objects are never excluded.
-	SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy(resid.ResId) ResMap
+	SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById(resid.ResId) ResMap
+
+	// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource returns a ResMap subset
+	// of self with resources that could be referenced by the
+	// resource argument.
+	// This is a filter; it excludes things that cannot be
+	// referenced by the resource, e.g. objects in other
+	// namespaces. Cluster wide objects are never excluded.
+	SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource(*resource.Resource) ResMap
 
 	// DeepCopy copies the ResMap and underlying resources.
 	DeepCopy() ResMap
@@ -161,6 +169,14 @@ type ResMap interface {
 	// TODO: - and replace this with a stricter equals.
 	ErrorIfNotEqualSets(ResMap) error
 
+	// ErrorIfNotEqualLists returns an error if the
+	// argument doesn't have the resource objects
+	// data as self, in the same order.
+	// Meta information is ignored; this is similar
+	// to comparing the AsYaml() strings, but allows
+	// for printing pointers, etc.
+	ErrorIfNotEqualLists(ResMap) error
+
 	// Debug prints the ResMap.
 	Debug(title string)
 }
@@ -420,6 +436,28 @@ func (m *resWrangler) ErrorIfNotEqualSets(other ResMap) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// ErrorIfNotEqualList implements ResMap.
+func (m *resWrangler) ErrorIfNotEqualLists(other ResMap) error {
+	m2, ok := other.(*resWrangler)
+	if !ok {
+		panic("bad cast")
+	}
+	if m.Size() != m2.Size() {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"lists have different number of entries: %#v doesn't equal %#v",
+			m.rList, m2.rList)
+	}
+	for i, r1 := range m.rList {
+		r2 := m2.rList[i]
+		if !r1.KunstructEqual(r2) {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"Item i=%d differs:\n n1 = %s\n n2 = %s\n",
+				i, r1.Id(), r2.Id())
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 type resCopier func(r *resource.Resource) *resource.Resource
 
 // ShallowCopy implements ResMap.
@@ -454,8 +492,8 @@ func (m *resWrangler) makeCopy(copier resCopier) ResMap {
 	return result
 }
 
-// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy implements ResMap.
-func (m *resWrangler) SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy(inputId resid.ResId) ResMap {
+// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById implements ResMap.
+func (m *resWrangler) SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById(inputId resid.ResId) ResMap {
 	if inputId.Gvk().IsClusterKind() {
 		return m
 	}
@@ -473,6 +511,25 @@ func (m *resWrangler) SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy(inputId resid.ResId) ResMap
 	return result
 }
 
+// SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource implements ResMap.
+func (m *resWrangler) SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedByResource(
+	inputRes *resource.Resource) ResMap {
+	inputId := inputRes.Id()
+	if inputId.Gvk().IsClusterKind() {
+		return m
+	}
+	result := New()
+	for _, r := range m.Resources() {
+		if r.Id().Gvk().IsClusterKind() || inputRes.InSameFuzzyNamespace(r) {
+			err := result.Append(r)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
 // AppendAll implements ResMap.
 func (m *resWrangler) AppendAll(other ResMap) error {
 	if other == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/resmap/resmap_test.go b/pkg/resmap/resmap_test.go
index 2b326400f..b092277c6 100644
--- a/pkg/resmap/resmap_test.go
+++ b/pkg/resmap/resmap_test.go
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ func TestFilterBy(t *testing.T) {
 	for name, test := range tests {
 		test := test
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got := test.resMap.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy(test.filter)
+			got := test.resMap.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById(test.filter)
 			err := test.expected.ErrorIfNotEqualSets(got)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("Expected %v but got back %v", test.expected, got)
diff --git a/pkg/resource/resource.go b/pkg/resource/resource.go
index 23b9f3565..00c1013a7 100644
--- a/pkg/resource/resource.go
+++ b/pkg/resource/resource.go
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ func (r *Resource) copyRefVarNames() []string {
 	return s
 }
 
+func (r *Resource) InSameFuzzyNamespace(o *Resource) bool {
+	return r.GetNamespace() == o.GetNamespace()
+}
+
 func (r *Resource) KunstructEqual(o *Resource) bool {
 	return reflect.DeepEqual(r.Kunstructured, o.Kunstructured)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/target/kusttarget_test.go b/pkg/target/kusttarget_test.go
index 37241141a..323c4d783 100644
--- a/pkg/target/kusttarget_test.go
+++ b/pkg/target/kusttarget_test.go
@@ -1,18 +1,5 @@
-/*
-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.
-*/
+// Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 package target_test
 
@@ -93,10 +80,11 @@ func TestResources(t *testing.T) {
 	th.WriteF("/whatever/namespace.yaml", namespaceContent)
 	th.WriteF("/whatever/jsonpatch.json", jsonpatchContent)
 
-	expected := resmap.FromMap(map[resid.ResId]*resource.Resource{
+	expected := resmap.New()
+	expected.AppendWithId(
 		resid.NewResIdWithPrefixSuffixNamespace(
 			gvk.Gvk{Group: "apps", Version: "v1", Kind: "Deployment"},
-			"dply1", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"): th.FromMap(
+			"dply1", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"), th.FromMap(
 			map[string]interface{}{
 				"apiVersion": "apps/v1",
 				"kind":       "Deployment",
@@ -128,10 +116,28 @@ func TestResources(t *testing.T) {
 						},
 					},
 				},
-			}),
+			}))
+	expected.AppendWithId(
+		resid.NewResIdWithPrefixSuffixNamespace(
+			gvk.Gvk{Version: "v1", Kind: "Namespace"},
+			"ns1", "foo-", "-bar", ""), th.FromMap(
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"apiVersion": "v1",
+				"kind":       "Namespace",
+				"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+					"name": "foo-ns1-bar",
+					"labels": map[string]interface{}{
+						"app": "nginx",
+					},
+					"annotations": map[string]interface{}{
+						"note": "This is a test annotation",
+					},
+				},
+			}))
+	expected.AppendWithId(
 		resid.NewResIdWithPrefixSuffixNamespace(
 			gvk.Gvk{Version: "v1", Kind: "ConfigMap"},
-			"literalConfigMap", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"): th.FromMapAndOption(
+			"literalConfigMap", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"), th.FromMap(
 			map[string]interface{}{
 				"apiVersion": "v1",
 				"kind":       "ConfigMap",
@@ -149,12 +155,11 @@ func TestResources(t *testing.T) {
 					"DB_USERNAME": "admin",
 					"DB_PASSWORD": "somepw",
 				},
-			},
-			&types.GeneratorArgs{},
-			&types.GeneratorOptions{}),
+			}))
+	expected.AppendWithId(
 		resid.NewResIdWithPrefixSuffixNamespace(
 			gvk.Gvk{Version: "v1", Kind: "Secret"},
-			"secret", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"): th.FromMapAndOption(
+			"secret", "foo-", "-bar", "ns1"), th.FromMap(
 			map[string]interface{}{
 				"apiVersion": "v1",
 				"kind":       "Secret",
@@ -173,26 +178,7 @@ func TestResources(t *testing.T) {
 					"DB_USERNAME": base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("admin")),
 					"DB_PASSWORD": base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte("somepw")),
 				},
-			},
-			&types.GeneratorArgs{},
-			&types.GeneratorOptions{}),
-		resid.NewResIdWithPrefixSuffixNamespace(
-			gvk.Gvk{Version: "v1", Kind: "Namespace"},
-			"ns1", "foo-", "-bar", ""): th.FromMap(
-			map[string]interface{}{
-				"apiVersion": "v1",
-				"kind":       "Namespace",
-				"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
-					"name": "foo-ns1-bar",
-					"labels": map[string]interface{}{
-						"app": "nginx",
-					},
-					"annotations": map[string]interface{}{
-						"note": "This is a test annotation",
-					},
-				},
-			}),
-	})
+			}))
 	actual, err := th.MakeKustTarget().MakeCustomizedResMap()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected Resources error %v", err)
diff --git a/pkg/transformers/namereference.go b/pkg/transformers/namereference.go
index 82e1941f7..ef3ca1958 100644
--- a/pkg/transformers/namereference.go
+++ b/pkg/transformers/namereference.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func (o *nameReferenceTransformer) Transform(m resmap.ResMap) error {
 			for _, fSpec := range target.FieldSpecs {
 				if referrer.Gvk().IsSelected(&fSpec.Gvk) {
 					if candidates == nil {
-						candidates = m.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedBy(referrer)
+						candidates = m.SubsetThatCouldBeReferencedById(referrer)
 					}
 					err := MutateField(
 						res.Map(),