diff --git a/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil.go b/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil.go
index 176ce0db0f..ba3f931e47 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil.go
@@ -181,6 +181,21 @@ func HasControllerReference(object metav1.Object) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// HasOwnerReference returns true if the owners list contains an owner reference
+// that matches the object's group, kind, and name.
+func HasOwnerReference(ownerRefs []metav1.OwnerReference, obj client.Object, scheme *runtime.Scheme) (bool, error) {
+	gvk, err := apiutil.GVKForObject(obj, scheme)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	idx := indexOwnerRef(ownerRefs, metav1.OwnerReference{
+		APIVersion: gvk.GroupVersion().String(),
+		Name:       obj.GetName(),
+		Kind:       gvk.Kind,
+	})
+	return idx != -1, nil
+}
+
 // RemoveControllerReference removes an owner reference where the controller
 // equals true
 func RemoveControllerReference(owner, object metav1.Object, scheme *runtime.Scheme) error {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil_test.go b/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil_test.go
index d56d59296b..c275d3d2dd 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controllerutil/controllerutil_test.go
@@ -957,6 +957,33 @@ var _ = Describe("Controllerutil", func() {
 				Expect(controllerutil.ContainsFinalizer(deploy, testFinalizer)).To(BeFalse())
 			})
 		})
+
+		Describe("HasOwnerReference", func() {
+			It("should return true if the object has the owner reference", func() {
+				rs := &appsv1.ReplicaSet{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo", UID: "foo-uid"},
+				}
+				dep := &extensionsv1beta1.Deployment{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo", UID: "foo-uid"},
+				}
+				Expect(controllerutil.SetOwnerReference(dep, rs, scheme.Scheme)).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+				b, err := controllerutil.HasOwnerReference(rs.GetOwnerReferences(), dep, scheme.Scheme)
+				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+				Expect(b).To(BeTrue())
+			})
+
+			It("should return false if the object does not have the owner reference", func() {
+				rs := &appsv1.ReplicaSet{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo", UID: "foo-uid"},
+				}
+				dep := &extensionsv1beta1.Deployment{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "foo", UID: "foo-uid"},
+				}
+				b, err := controllerutil.HasOwnerReference(rs.GetOwnerReferences(), dep, scheme.Scheme)
+				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+				Expect(b).To(BeFalse())
+			})
+		})
 	})
 })