diff --git a/pkg/apply/applier_test.go b/pkg/apply/applier_test.go
index 35775ec..115e5be 100644
--- a/pkg/apply/applier_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apply/applier_test.go
@@ -837,14 +837,9 @@ func newFakeRESTClient(t *testing.T, handlers []handler) *fake.RESTClient {
 
 func toIdentifier(t *testing.T, manifest string) object.ObjMetadata {
 	obj := Unstructured(t, manifest)
-
-	accessor, err := meta.Accessor(obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
 	return object.ObjMetadata{
 		GroupKind: obj.GetObjectKind().GroupVersionKind().GroupKind(),
-		Name:      accessor.GetName(),
+		Name:      obj.GetName(),
 		Namespace: "default",
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/apply/prune/prune_test.go b/pkg/apply/prune/prune_test.go
index 3153a81..42b75ee 100644
--- a/pkg/apply/prune/prune_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apply/prune/prune_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/testrestmapper"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
@@ -276,7 +275,7 @@ func TestPrune(t *testing.T) {
 				err := func() error {
 					defer close(eventChannel)
 					// Run the prune and validate.
-					return po.Prune(currentInventory, tc.currentObjs, populateObjectIds(tc.currentObjs, t), taskContext, Options{
+					return po.Prune(currentInventory, tc.currentObjs, populateObjectIds(tc.currentObjs), taskContext, Options{
 						DryRunStrategy: drs,
 					})
 				}()
@@ -326,14 +325,10 @@ func unionObjects(sliceA []*unstructured.Unstructured, sliceB []*unstructured.Un
 
 // populateObjectIds returns a pointer to a set of strings containing
 // the UID's of the passed objects (infos).
-func populateObjectIds(objs []*unstructured.Unstructured, t *testing.T) sets.String {
+func populateObjectIds(objs []*unstructured.Unstructured) sets.String {
 	uids := sets.NewString()
 	for _, currObj := range objs {
-		metadata, err := meta.Accessor(currObj)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("Unexpected error retrieving object metadata: %#v", err)
-		}
-		uid := string(metadata.GetUID())
+		uid := string(currObj.GetUID())
 		uids.Insert(uid)
 	}
 	return uids
@@ -495,7 +490,7 @@ func TestPruneWithError(t *testing.T) {
 			err := func() error {
 				defer close(eventChannel)
 				// Run the prune and validate.
-				return po.Prune(currentInventory, tc.currentObjs, populateObjectIds(tc.currentObjs, t), taskContext, Options{
+				return po.Prune(currentInventory, tc.currentObjs, populateObjectIds(tc.currentObjs), taskContext, Options{
 					DryRunStrategy: drs,
 				})
 			}()
diff --git a/pkg/apply/task/inv_add_task.go b/pkg/apply/task/inv_add_task.go
index dbf8bfb..b92e9dc 100644
--- a/pkg/apply/task/inv_add_task.go
+++ b/pkg/apply/task/inv_add_task.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 package task
 
 import (
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils/pkg/apply/event"
@@ -71,9 +70,8 @@ func inventoryNamespaceInSet(inv inventory.InventoryInfo, objs []*unstructured.U
 	invNamespace := inv.Namespace()
 
 	for _, obj := range objs {
-		acc, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
 		gvk := obj.GetObjectKind().GroupVersionKind()
-		if gvk == object.CoreV1Namespace && acc.GetName() == invNamespace {
+		if gvk == object.CoreV1Namespace && obj.GetName() == invNamespace {
 			inventory.AddInventoryIDAnnotation(obj, inv)
 			return obj
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/inventory/inventory.go b/pkg/inventory/inventory.go
index a8fdc89..8079ef0 100644
--- a/pkg/inventory/inventory.go
+++ b/pkg/inventory/inventory.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils/pkg/common"
@@ -73,16 +72,7 @@ func IsInventoryObject(obj *unstructured.Unstructured) bool {
 // for the passed inventory object. Returns error if the passed object is nil or
 // is not a inventory object.
 func retrieveInventoryLabel(obj *unstructured.Unstructured) (string, error) {
-	if obj == nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("inventory info is nil")
-	}
-
-	accessor, err := meta.Accessor(obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-	labels := accessor.GetLabels()
-	inventoryLabel, exists := labels[common.InventoryLabel]
+	inventoryLabel, exists := obj.GetLabels()[common.InventoryLabel]
 	if !exists {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("inventory label does not exist for inventory object: %s", common.InventoryLabel)
 	}
@@ -134,16 +124,12 @@ func SplitUnstructureds(objs []*unstructured.Unstructured) (*unstructured.Unstru
 // an error if name stored in the object differs from the name in
 // the Info struct.
 func addSuffixToName(obj *unstructured.Unstructured, suffix string) error {
-	if obj == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("nil unstructured.Unstructured")
-	}
 	suffix = strings.TrimSpace(suffix)
 	if len(suffix) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("passed empty suffix")
 	}
 
-	accessor, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
-	name := accessor.GetName()
+	name := obj.GetName()
 	if name != obj.GetName() {
 		return fmt.Errorf("inventory object (%s) and resource.Info (%s) have different names", name, obj.GetName())
 	}
@@ -153,7 +139,7 @@ func addSuffixToName(obj *unstructured.Unstructured, suffix string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("name already has suffix: %s", name)
 	}
 	name += suffix
-	accessor.SetName(name)
+	obj.SetName(name)
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -163,15 +149,7 @@ func addSuffixToName(obj *unstructured.Unstructured, suffix string) error {
 // This fixes a problem where inventory object names collide if
 // they are created in the same namespace.
 func fixLegacyInventoryName(obj *unstructured.Unstructured) error {
-	if obj == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid inventory object is nil")
-	}
-	accessor, err := meta.Accessor(obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	name := accessor.GetName()
-	if obj.GetName() == legacyInvName || name == legacyInvName {
+	if obj.GetName() == legacyInvName {
 		klog.V(4).Infof("renaming legacy inventory name")
 		randomSuffix := common.RandomStr()
 		return addSuffixToName(obj, randomSuffix)
diff --git a/pkg/kstatus/polling/statusreaders/common.go b/pkg/kstatus/polling/statusreaders/common.go
index 76d52f3..6289615 100644
--- a/pkg/kstatus/polling/statusreaders/common.go
+++ b/pkg/kstatus/polling/statusreaders/common.go
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cli-utils/pkg/kstatus/polling/engine"
@@ -102,7 +101,6 @@ type statusForGenResourcesFunc func(ctx context.Context, mapper meta.RESTMapper,
 // resources.
 func statusForGeneratedResources(ctx context.Context, mapper meta.RESTMapper, reader engine.ClusterReader, statusReader resourceTypeStatusReader,
 	object *unstructured.Unstructured, gk schema.GroupKind, selectorPath ...string) (event.ResourceStatuses, error) {
-	namespace := getNamespaceForNamespacedResource(object)
 	selector, err := toSelector(object, selectorPath...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return event.ResourceStatuses{}, err
@@ -114,7 +112,7 @@ func statusForGeneratedResources(ctx context.Context, mapper meta.RESTMapper, re
 		return event.ResourceStatuses{}, err
 	}
 	objectList.SetGroupVersionKind(gvk)
-	err = reader.ListNamespaceScoped(ctx, &objectList, namespace, selector)
+	err = reader.ListNamespaceScoped(ctx, &objectList, object.GetNamespace(), selector)
 	if err != nil {
 		return event.ResourceStatuses{}, err
 	}
@@ -182,13 +180,3 @@ func toIdentifier(u *unstructured.Unstructured) object.ObjMetadata {
 		Namespace: u.GetNamespace(),
 	}
 }
-
-// getNamespaceForNamespacedResource returns the namespace for the given object,
-// but includes logic for returning the default namespace if it is not set.
-func getNamespaceForNamespacedResource(object runtime.Object) string {
-	acc, err := meta.Accessor(object)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return acc.GetNamespace()
-}
diff --git a/pkg/manifestreader/common.go b/pkg/manifestreader/common.go
index d980edf..a8bc5fe 100644
--- a/pkg/manifestreader/common.go
+++ b/pkg/manifestreader/common.go
@@ -50,8 +50,6 @@ func SetNamespaces(mapper meta.RESTMapper, objs []*unstructured.Unstructured,
 
 	var unknownGKs []schema.GroupKind
 	for _, obj := range objs {
-		accessor, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
-
 		// Exclude any inventory objects here since we don't want to change
 		// their namespace.
 		if inventory.IsInventoryObject(obj) {
@@ -60,7 +58,7 @@ func SetNamespaces(mapper meta.RESTMapper, objs []*unstructured.Unstructured,
 
 		// if the resource already has the namespace set, we don't
 		// need to do anything
-		if ns := accessor.GetNamespace(); ns != "" {
+		if ns := obj.GetNamespace(); ns != "" {
 			if enforceNamespace && ns != defaultNamespace {
 				return fmt.Errorf("the namespace from the provided object %q "+
 					"does not match the namespace %q. You must pass '--namespace=%s' to perform this operation",
@@ -83,7 +81,7 @@ func SetNamespaces(mapper meta.RESTMapper, objs []*unstructured.Unstructured,
 				// This means the resource does not have the namespace set,
 				// but it is a namespaced resource. So we set the namespace
 				// to the provided default value.
-				accessor.SetNamespace(defaultNamespace)
+				obj.SetNamespace(defaultNamespace)
 			}
 			continue
 		}
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ func SetNamespaces(mapper meta.RESTMapper, objs []*unstructured.Unstructured,
 		case "Cluster":
 			continue
 		case "Namespaced":
-			accessor.SetNamespace(defaultNamespace)
+			obj.SetNamespace(defaultNamespace)
 		}
 	}
 	if len(unknownGKs) > 0 {
@@ -126,11 +124,10 @@ func SetNamespaces(mapper meta.RESTMapper, objs []*unstructured.Unstructured,
 func FilterLocalConfig(objs []*unstructured.Unstructured) []*unstructured.Unstructured {
 	var filteredObjs []*unstructured.Unstructured
 	for _, obj := range objs {
-		acc, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
 		// Ignoring the value of the LocalConfigAnnotation here. This is to be
 		// consistent with the behavior in the kyaml library:
 		// https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/blob/30b58e90a39485bc5724b2278651c5d26b815cb2/kyaml/kio/filters/local.go#L29
-		if _, found := acc.GetAnnotations()[filters.LocalConfigAnnotation]; !found {
+		if _, found := obj.GetAnnotations()[filters.LocalConfigAnnotation]; !found {
 			filteredObjs = append(filteredObjs, obj)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/manifestreader/common_test.go b/pkg/manifestreader/common_test.go
index 963b96e..de3a7fb 100644
--- a/pkg/manifestreader/common_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manifestreader/common_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	apiextv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	cmdtesting "k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/testing"
@@ -169,10 +168,7 @@ func TestSetNamespaces(t *testing.T) {
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 			for i, obj := range tc.objs {
-				expectedNs := tc.expectedNamespaces[i]
-				assert.Equal(t, expectedNs, obj.GetNamespace())
-				accessor, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
-				assert.Equal(t, expectedNs, accessor.GetNamespace())
+				assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedNamespaces[i], obj.GetNamespace())
 			}
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/manifestreader/path_test.go b/pkg/manifestreader/path_test.go
index 6400af5..c54db26 100644
--- a/pkg/manifestreader/path_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manifestreader/path_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	cmdtesting "k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/testing"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/kio/kioutil"
 )
@@ -80,8 +79,7 @@ func TestPathManifestReader_Read(t *testing.T) {
 
 			for i, obj := range objs {
 				assert.Equal(t, tc.namespaces[i], obj.GetNamespace())
-				accessor, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
-				_, ok := accessor.GetAnnotations()[kioutil.PathAnnotation]
+				_, ok := obj.GetAnnotations()[kioutil.PathAnnotation]
 				assert.True(t, ok)
 			}
 		})
diff --git a/pkg/object/infos.go b/pkg/object/infos.go
index 73b779a..7d6a86a 100644
--- a/pkg/object/infos.go
+++ b/pkg/object/infos.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 package object
 
 import (
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/resource"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/kio/kioutil"
@@ -15,15 +14,14 @@ func InfoToUnstructured(info *resource.Info) *unstructured.Unstructured {
 }
 
 func UnstructuredToInfo(obj *unstructured.Unstructured) (*resource.Info, error) {
-	accessor, _ := meta.Accessor(obj)
-	annos := accessor.GetAnnotations()
+	annos := obj.GetAnnotations()
 
 	source := "unstructured"
 	path, ok := annos[kioutil.PathAnnotation]
 	if ok {
 		source = path
 		delete(annos, kioutil.PathAnnotation)
-		accessor.SetAnnotations(annos)
+		obj.SetAnnotations(annos)
 	}
 
 	return &resource.Info{