diff --git a/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta.go b/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta.go
index 7c1c69054..593d7ba8c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta.go
@@ -91,15 +91,16 @@ func validateOwnerReference(ownerReference metav1.OwnerReference, fldPath *field
 // ValidateOwnerReferences validates that a set of owner references are correctly defined.
 func ValidateOwnerReferences(ownerReferences []metav1.OwnerReference, fldPath *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
 	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
-	controllerName := ""
+	firstControllerName := ""
 	for _, ref := range ownerReferences {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, validateOwnerReference(ref, fldPath)...)
 		if ref.Controller != nil && *ref.Controller {
-			if controllerName != "" {
+			curControllerName := ref.Kind + "/" + ref.Name
+			if firstControllerName != "" {
 				allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath, ownerReferences,
-					fmt.Sprintf("Only one reference can have Controller set to true. Found \"true\" in references for %v and %v", controllerName, ref.Name)))
+					fmt.Sprintf("Only one reference can have Controller set to true. Found \"true\" in references for %v and %v", firstControllerName, curControllerName)))
 			} else {
-				controllerName = ref.Name
+				firstControllerName = curControllerName
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta_test.go b/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta_test.go
index 349da67f8..0331cf9f3 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation/objectmeta_test.go
@@ -163,34 +163,34 @@ func TestValidateObjectMetaOwnerReferences(t *testing.T) {
 			ownerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{
 				{
 					APIVersion: "customresourceVersion",
-					Kind:       "customresourceKind",
+					Kind:       "customresourceKind1",
 					Name:       "name",
 					UID:        "1",
 					Controller: &falseVar,
 				},
 				{
 					APIVersion: "customresourceVersion",
-					Kind:       "customresourceKind",
+					Kind:       "customresourceKind2",
 					Name:       "name",
 					UID:        "2",
 					Controller: &trueVar,
 				},
 				{
 					APIVersion: "customresourceVersion",
-					Kind:       "customresourceKind",
+					Kind:       "customresourceKind3",
 					Name:       "name",
 					UID:        "3",
 					Controller: &trueVar,
 				},
 				{
 					APIVersion: "customresourceVersion",
-					Kind:       "customresourceKind",
+					Kind:       "customresourceKind4",
 					Name:       "name",
 					UID:        "4",
 				},
 			},
 			expectError:          true,
-			expectedErrorMessage: "Only one reference can have Controller set to true",
+			expectedErrorMessage: "Only one reference can have Controller set to true. Found \"true\" in references for customresourceKind2/name and customresourceKind3/name",
 		},
 	}