diff --git a/internal/sample-apiserver/pkg/cmd/server/start.go b/internal/sample-apiserver/pkg/cmd/server/start.go
index fc6a196..74d1a70 100644
--- a/internal/sample-apiserver/pkg/cmd/server/start.go
+++ b/internal/sample-apiserver/pkg/cmd/server/start.go
@@ -115,7 +115,11 @@ func (o *WardleServerOptions) Config() (*apiserver.Config, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating self-signed certificates: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	o.RecommendedOptions.Etcd.StorageConfig.Paging = utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.APIListChunking)
+	// change: allow etcd options to be nil
+	// TODO: this should be reverted after rebasing sample-apiserver onto https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/101106
+	if o.RecommendedOptions.Etcd != nil {
+		o.RecommendedOptions.Etcd.StorageConfig.Paging = utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.APIListChunking)
+	}
 
 	// change: apiserver-runtime
 	// ExtraAdmissionInitializers set through ApplyServerOptionsFns by appending to ServerOptionsFns
diff --git a/pkg/builder/builder_misc.go b/pkg/builder/builder_misc.go
index 8f9d56d..51b0156 100644
--- a/pkg/builder/builder_misc.go
+++ b/pkg/builder/builder_misc.go
@@ -55,3 +55,11 @@ func (a *Server) ExposeLoopbackAuthorizer() *Server {
 		return s
 	})
 }
+
+// WithoutEtcd removes etcd related settings from apiserver.
+func (a *Server) WithoutEtcd() *Server {
+	return a.WithOptionsFns(func(o *ServerOptions) *ServerOptions {
+		o.RecommendedOptions.Etcd = nil
+		return o
+	})
+}
diff --git a/pkg/experimental/storage/filepath/jsonfile.go b/pkg/experimental/storage/filepath/jsonfile.go
index 86b94bd..a87a867 100644
--- a/pkg/experimental/storage/filepath/jsonfile.go
+++ b/pkg/experimental/storage/filepath/jsonfile.go
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ package filepath
 
 import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/serializer"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
+	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/storage"
+	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/storagebackend"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-runtime/pkg/builder/resource"
 	builderrest "sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-runtime/pkg/builder/rest"
 )
@@ -36,11 +39,17 @@ import (
 func NewJSONFilepathStorageProvider(obj resource.Object, rootPath string) builderrest.ResourceHandlerProvider {
 	return func(scheme *runtime.Scheme, getter generic.RESTOptionsGetter) (rest.Storage, error) {
 		gr := obj.GetGroupVersionResource().GroupResource()
-		opt, err := getter.GetRESTOptions(gr)
+		codec, _, err := storage.NewStorageCodec(storage.StorageCodecConfig{
+			StorageMediaType:  runtime.ContentTypeJSON,
+			StorageSerializer: serializer.NewCodecFactory(scheme),
+			StorageVersion:    scheme.PrioritizedVersionsForGroup(obj.GetGroupVersionResource().Group)[0],
+			MemoryVersion:     scheme.PrioritizedVersionsForGroup(obj.GetGroupVersionResource().Group)[0],
+			Config:            storagebackend.Config{}, // useless fields..
+		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		codec := opt.StorageConfig.Codec
+
 		return NewFilepathREST(
 			gr,
 			codec,