diff --git a/kubernetes-client/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/utils/SerializationTest.java b/kubernetes-client/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/utils/SerializationTest.java
index f679b1768dc..5bf5f9ac84a 100644
--- a/kubernetes-client/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/utils/SerializationTest.java
+++ b/kubernetes-client/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/utils/SerializationTest.java
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.apiextensions.v1beta1.CustomResourceDefinition;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.apiextensions.v1beta1.JSONSchemaProps;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.apps.Deployment;
-import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.batch.v1.Job;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.CustomResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.model.annotation.Group;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.model.annotation.Version;
diff --git a/kubernetes-model-generator/kubernetes-model-core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/internal/KubernetesDeserializer.java b/kubernetes-model-generator/kubernetes-model-core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/internal/KubernetesDeserializer.java
index eda28a29880..7f5b6faae47 100644
--- a/kubernetes-model-generator/kubernetes-model-core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/internal/KubernetesDeserializer.java
+++ b/kubernetes-model-generator/kubernetes-model-core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/internal/KubernetesDeserializer.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
-
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.exc.InvalidFormatException;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.KubernetesResourceMappingProvider;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.GenericKubernetesResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ public class KubernetesDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<KubernetesResource>
 
     private static final Mapping mapping = new Mapping();
 
+    // template deserialization can fail if unless we use generic resources
+    private static ThreadLocal<Boolean> IN_TEMPLATE = ThreadLocal.withInitial(() -> false);
+
     @Override
     public KubernetesResource deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException {
         JsonNode node = jp.readValueAsTree();
@@ -84,7 +87,23 @@ private static KubernetesResource fromObjectNode(JsonParser jp, JsonNode node) t
             if (resourceType == null) {
               return jp.getCodec().treeToValue(node, GenericKubernetesResource.class);
             } else if (KubernetesResource.class.isAssignableFrom(resourceType)){
-                return jp.getCodec().treeToValue(node, resourceType);
+                boolean inTemplate = IN_TEMPLATE.get();
+                if (!inTemplate && "io.fabric8.openshift.api.model.Template".equals(resourceType.getName())) {
+                    inTemplate = true;
+                    IN_TEMPLATE.set(true);
+                }
+                try {
+                    return jp.getCodec().treeToValue(node, resourceType);
+                } catch (InvalidFormatException e) {
+                    if (!inTemplate) {
+                        throw e;
+                    }
+                    return jp.getCodec().treeToValue(node, GenericKubernetesResource.class);
+                } finally {
+                    if (inTemplate) {
+                        IN_TEMPLATE.remove();
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
         return null;
diff --git a/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/openshift/client/server/mock/TemplateTest.java b/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/openshift/client/server/mock/TemplateTest.java
index bc497998eba..1321fb170a3 100644
--- a/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/openshift/client/server/mock/TemplateTest.java
+++ b/kubernetes-tests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/openshift/client/server/mock/TemplateTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 package io.fabric8.openshift.client.server.mock;
 
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.APIGroupListBuilder;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.GenericKubernetesResource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.HasMetadata;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.KubernetesList;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.KubernetesListBuilder;
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ServiceSpec;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.StatusBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.utils.IOHelpers;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.utils.Serialization;
 import io.fabric8.openshift.api.model.ParameterBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.openshift.api.model.Template;
 import io.fabric8.openshift.api.model.TemplateBuilder;
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonMap;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
@@ -183,6 +186,22 @@ void shouldLoadTemplateWithNumberParameters() {
     map.put("PORT", "8080");
     KubernetesList list = client.templates().withParameters(map).load(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/template-with-number-params.yml")).processLocally(map);
     assertListIsServiceWithPort8080(list);
+    assertThat(list.getItems()).singleElement()
+      .isInstanceOf(Service.class)
+      .extracting("spec.ports").asList().singleElement()
+      .hasFieldOrPropertyWithValue("port", 8080);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldGetTemplateWithNumberParameters() {
+    OpenShiftClient client = new DefaultOpenShiftClient(new OpenShiftConfigBuilder().withDisableApiGroupCheck(true).build());
+    Template template = client.templates().load(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/template-with-number-params.yml")).get();
+    assertThat(template)
+      .extracting(Template::getObjects).asList()
+      .singleElement()
+      .isInstanceOf(GenericKubernetesResource.class)
+      .extracting("additionalProperties.spec.ports").asList().singleElement()
+      .hasFieldOrPropertyWithValue("port", "${PORT}");
   }
 
   protected void assertListIsServiceWithPort8080(KubernetesList list) {