diff --git a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts
index 68435593d6..30bce1620f 100644
--- a/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts
+++ b/core/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 import { basename, dirname, join, resolve } from "path"
 import { pathExists, readFile } from "fs-extra"
-import { flatten, keyBy, set } from "lodash"
+import { flatten, isEmpty, keyBy, set } from "lodash"
 
 import { KubernetesModule } from "./module-config"
 import { KubernetesResource } from "../types"
@@ -497,12 +497,37 @@ export function convertServiceResource(
     return null
   }
 
-  return {
-    kind: s.kind,
-    name: s.name || module.name,
-    podSelector: s.podSelector,
-    containerName: s.containerName,
+  return convertServiceResourceSpec(s, module.name)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Converts 0.12 {@link ServiceResourceSpec} to 0.13 {@link KubernetesTargetResourceSpec}.
+ *
+ * NOTE! In 0.13 {@link KubernetesTargetResourceSpec} has stricter schema validation rules
+ * than {@link ServiceResourceSpec} in 0.12.
+ *
+ * The resulting {@link KubernetesTargetResourceSpec} can contain either a pair of {@code (kind, name)}
+ * or a {@code podSelector}.
+ * The {@code podSelector} takes precedence over the {@code (kind, name)}, see {@link getTargetResource}.
+ *
+ * @param module the current module
+ * @param serviceResourceSpec the input service resource spec in 0.12 format
+ * @return the 0.13 compatible kubernetes service resource spec
+ * @see targetResourceSpecSchema
+ * @see getTargetResource
+ */
+export function convertServiceResourceSpec(s: ServiceResourceSpec, moduleName: string): KubernetesTargetResourceSpec {
+  // Set only the necessary fields to satisfy the schema restrictions defined for KubernetesTargetResourceSpec.
+  const result: KubernetesTargetResourceSpec =
+    s.podSelector && !isEmpty(s.podSelector)
+      ? { podSelector: s.podSelector }
+      : { kind: s.kind, name: s.name || moduleName }
+
+  if (s.containerName) {
+    result.containerName = s.containerName
   }
+
+  return result
 }
 
 export async function runOrTestWithPod(
diff --git a/core/test/integ/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts b/core/test/integ/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
index 323f905f28..5dd7d96d90 100644
--- a/core/test/integ/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
+++ b/core/test/integ/src/plugins/kubernetes/sync-mode.ts
@@ -265,8 +265,6 @@ describe("sync mode deployments and sync behavior", () => {
             target: {
               kind: "Deployment",
               name: "some-deployment",
-              containerName: undefined,
-              podSelector: undefined,
             },
             mode: "two-way",
             sourcePath: join(module.path, "src"),
@@ -323,8 +321,6 @@ describe("sync mode deployments and sync behavior", () => {
             target: {
               kind: "Deployment",
               name: "some-deployment",
-              containerName: undefined,
-              podSelector: undefined,
             },
             mode: "two-way",
             exclude: ["bad/things"],
diff --git a/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..55daf01853
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/test/unit/src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018-2023 Garden Technologies, Inc. <info@garden.io>
+ *
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+ */
+
+import { KubernetesTargetResourceSpec, ServiceResourceSpec } from "../../../../../../src/plugins/kubernetes/config"
+import { convertServiceResourceSpec } from "../../../../../../src/plugins/kubernetes/kubernetes-type/common"
+import { expect } from "chai"
+
+describe("convertServiceResource", () => {
+  const moduleName = "module-a"
+
+  it("picks kind and name if podSelector is not defined", async () => {
+    const serviceResourceSpec: ServiceResourceSpec = {
+      kind: "Deployment",
+      name: "service-a",
+    }
+
+    const kubernetesResourceSpec = convertServiceResourceSpec(serviceResourceSpec, moduleName)
+    const expectedKubernetesResourceSpec: KubernetesTargetResourceSpec = {
+      kind: "Deployment",
+      name: "service-a",
+    }
+    expect(kubernetesResourceSpec).to.eql(expectedKubernetesResourceSpec)
+  })
+
+  it("picks kind and name if podSelector is empty", async () => {
+    const serviceResourceSpec: ServiceResourceSpec = {
+      kind: "Deployment",
+      name: "service-a",
+      podSelector: {},
+    }
+
+    const kubernetesResourceSpec = convertServiceResourceSpec(serviceResourceSpec, moduleName)
+    const expectedKubernetesResourceSpec: KubernetesTargetResourceSpec = {
+      kind: "Deployment",
+      name: "service-a",
+    }
+    expect(kubernetesResourceSpec).to.eql(expectedKubernetesResourceSpec)
+  })
+
+  it("picks podSelector instead of kind and name if podSelector is not empty", async () => {
+    const serviceResourceSpec: ServiceResourceSpec = {
+      kind: "Deployment",
+      name: "service-a",
+      podSelector: {
+        app: "app-service-a",
+      },
+    }
+
+    const kubernetesResourceSpec = convertServiceResourceSpec(serviceResourceSpec, moduleName)
+    const expectedKubernetesResourceSpec: KubernetesTargetResourceSpec = {
+      podSelector: {
+        app: "app-service-a",
+      },
+    }
+    expect(kubernetesResourceSpec).to.eql(expectedKubernetesResourceSpec)
+  })
+})