diff --git a/pkg/cache/cache.go b/pkg/cache/cache.go
index e5affce5c4..4ba74c08a9 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/cache.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/cache.go
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ func convertToDisableDeepCopyByGVK(disableDeepCopyByObject DisableDeepCopyByObje
 
 type TransformFuncByObject map[client.Object]toolscache.TransformFunc
 
-func convertToTransformByKindAndGVK(t TransformFuncByObject, scheme *runtime.Scheme) (internal.TransformFuncByObject, error) {
+func convertToTransformByKindAndGVK(t TransformFuncByObject, scheme *runtime.Scheme) (*internal.TransformFuncByObject, error) {
 	result := internal.NewTransformFuncByObject()
 	for obj, transformation := range t {
 		if err := result.Set(obj, scheme, transformation); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/cache/internal/deleg_map.go b/pkg/cache/internal/deleg_map.go
index dbce7ad02a..4538b697a9 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/internal/deleg_map.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/internal/deleg_map.go
@@ -52,12 +52,12 @@ func NewInformersMap(config *rest.Config,
 	namespace string,
 	selectors SelectorsByGVK,
 	disableDeepCopy DisableDeepCopyByGVK,
-	transformers TransformFuncByObject,
+	transformers *TransformFuncByObject,
 ) *InformersMap {
 	return &InformersMap{
-		structured:   newStructuredInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.Get(runtimeObjectKindStructured)),
-		unstructured: newUnstructuredInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.Get(runtimeObjectKindUnstructured)),
-		metadata:     newMetadataInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.Get(runtimeObjectKindMetadata)),
+		structured:   newStructuredInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.structured),
+		unstructured: newUnstructuredInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.unstructured),
+		metadata:     newMetadataInformersMap(config, scheme, mapper, resync, namespace, selectors, disableDeepCopy, transformers.metadata),
 
 		Scheme: scheme,
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go b/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
index 61e6f2f93c..bc43ae644a 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/internal/informers_map.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ func newSpecificInformersMap(config *rest.Config,
 		namespace:         namespace,
 		selectors:         selectors.forGVK,
 		disableDeepCopy:   disableDeepCopy,
+		transformers:      transformers,
 	}
 	return ip
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cache/internal/transformers.go b/pkg/cache/internal/transformers.go
index 1f39e1d259..2b5bfa4d1b 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/internal/transformers.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/internal/transformers.go
@@ -9,57 +9,34 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/apiutil"
 )
 
-type runtimeObjectKind int
-
-const (
-	// prefixed names since there are packages with these names that conflict
-	runtimeObjectKindStructured runtimeObjectKind = iota
-	runtimeObjectKindUnstructured
-	runtimeObjectKindMetadata
-)
-
-func runtimeObjectKindForObject(obj runtime.Object) runtimeObjectKind {
-	switch obj.(type) {
-	case *unstructured.Unstructured:
-		return runtimeObjectKindUnstructured
-	case *unstructured.UnstructuredList:
-		return runtimeObjectKindUnstructured
-	case *metav1.PartialObjectMetadata:
-		return runtimeObjectKindMetadata
-	case *metav1.PartialObjectMetadataList:
-		return runtimeObjectKindMetadata
-	default:
-		return runtimeObjectKindStructured
-	}
+type TransformFuncByObject struct {
+	structured   TransformFuncByGVK
+	unstructured TransformFuncByGVK
+	metadata     TransformFuncByGVK
 }
-
-type TransformFuncByObject map[runtimeObjectKind]map[schema.GroupVersionKind]cache.TransformFunc
 type TransformFuncByGVK map[schema.GroupVersionKind]cache.TransformFunc
 
-func NewTransformFuncByObject() TransformFuncByObject {
-	return TransformFuncByObject{}
+func NewTransformFuncByObject() *TransformFuncByObject {
+	return &TransformFuncByObject{
+		structured:   TransformFuncByGVK{},
+		unstructured: TransformFuncByGVK{},
+		metadata:     TransformFuncByGVK{},
+	}
 }
 
 func (t TransformFuncByObject) Set(obj runtime.Object, scheme *runtime.Scheme, transformer cache.TransformFunc) error {
-	kind := runtimeObjectKindForObject(obj)
-	existing, ok := t[kind]
-	if !ok {
-		existing = TransformFuncByGVK{}
-		t[kind] = existing
-	}
-
-	gvk, err := apiutil.GVKForObject(obj, nil)
+	gvk, err := apiutil.GVKForObject(obj, scheme)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	existing[gvk] = transformer
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (t TransformFuncByObject) Get(kind runtimeObjectKind) TransformFuncByGVK {
-	if val, ok := t[kind]; ok {
-		return val
+	switch obj.(type) {
+	case *unstructured.Unstructured, *unstructured.UnstructuredList:
+		t.unstructured[gvk] = transformer
+	case *metav1.PartialObjectMetadata, *metav1.PartialObjectMetadataList:
+		t.metadata[gvk] = transformer
+	default:
+		t.structured[gvk] = transformer
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controllertest/util.go b/pkg/controller/controllertest/util.go
index df6ae9a223..ce2f78ce95 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controllertest/util.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controllertest/util.go
@@ -111,3 +111,7 @@ func (f *FakeInformer) LastSyncResourceVersion() string {
 func (f *FakeInformer) SetWatchErrorHandler(cache.WatchErrorHandler) error {
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (f *FakeInformer) SetTransform(t cache.TransformFunc) error {
+	return nil
+}