diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule.go b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule.go
index 458ee234f777..e03c6d365e58 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 
 	apiv1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	"k8s.io/autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability"
 	"k8s.io/autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler/utils/drain"
 	pod_util "k8s.io/autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler/utils/pod"
@@ -57,6 +58,12 @@ func (r *Rule) Drainable(drainCtx *drainability.DrainContext, pod *apiv1.Pod) dr
 	if controllerRef == nil {
 		return drainability.NewUndefinedStatus()
 	}
+
+	refGroup, err := schema.ParseGroupVersion(controllerRef.APIVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return drainability.NewUndefinedStatus()
+	}
+
 	refKind := controllerRef.Kind
 
 	if refKind == "ReplicationController" {
@@ -71,8 +78,8 @@ func (r *Rule) Drainable(drainCtx *drainability.DrainContext, pod *apiv1.Pod) dr
 			return drainability.NewBlockedStatus(drain.MinReplicasReached, fmt.Errorf("replication controller for %s/%s has too few replicas spec: %d min: %d", pod.Namespace, pod.Name, rc.Spec.Replicas, r.minReplicaCount))
 		}
 	} else if pod_util.IsDaemonSetPod(pod) {
-		if refKind != "DaemonSet" {
-			// We don't have a listener for the other DaemonSet kind.
+		if refGroup.Group != "apps" || refKind != "DaemonSet" {
+			// We don't have a listener for the other DaemonSet group or kind.
 			// TODO: Use a generic client for checking the reference.
 			return drainability.NewUndefinedStatus()
 		}
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule_test.go
index 342a69738bb5..efe09e2072a9 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/drainability/rules/replicacount/rule_test.go
@@ -145,6 +145,30 @@ func TestDrainable(t *testing.T) {
 			wantReason: drain.ControllerNotFound,
 			wantError:  true,
 		},
+		"DS-managed pod by a custom API Group": {
+			pod: &apiv1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:            "bar",
+					Namespace:       "default",
+					OwnerReferences: test.GenerateOwnerReferences(ds.Name, "DaemonSet", "crd/v1", ""),
+				},
+				Spec: apiv1.PodSpec{
+					NodeName: "node",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		"DS-managed pod by a custom API Group with missing reference": {
+			pod: &apiv1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:            "bar",
+					Namespace:       "default",
+					OwnerReferences: test.GenerateOwnerReferences("missing", "DaemonSet", "crd/v1", ""),
+				},
+				Spec: apiv1.PodSpec{
+					NodeName: "node",
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		"DS-managed pod by a custom Daemonset": {
 			pod: &apiv1.Pod{
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{