diff --git a/middleware/kubernetes/setup.go b/middleware/kubernetes/setup.go
index 2e531e859..e3a9093c3 100644
--- a/middleware/kubernetes/setup.go
+++ b/middleware/kubernetes/setup.go
@@ -76,7 +76,9 @@ func kubernetesParse(c *caddy.Controller) (*Kubernetes, error) {
 
 		if len(zones) != 0 {
 			k8s.Zones = zones
-			middleware.Zones(k8s.Zones).Normalize()
+			for i := 0; i < len(k8s.Zones); i++ {
+				k8s.Zones[i] = middleware.Host(k8s.Zones[i]).Normalize()
+			}
 		} else {
 			k8s.Zones = make([]string, len(c.ServerBlockKeys))
 			for i := 0; i < len(c.ServerBlockKeys); i++ {
diff --git a/middleware/kubernetes/setup_reverse_test.go b/middleware/kubernetes/setup_reverse_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b6fa26b86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/middleware/kubernetes/setup_reverse_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package kubernetes
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/mholt/caddy"
+)
+
+func TestKubernetesParseReverseZone(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input         string   // Corefile data as string
+		expectedZones []string // expected count of defined zones.
+	}{
+		{`kubernetes coredns.local 10.0.0.0/16`, []string{"coredns.local.", "0.10.in-addr.arpa."}},
+		{`kubernetes coredns.local 10.0.0.0/17`, []string{"coredns.local.", "10.0.0.0/17."}},
+	}
+
+	for i, tc := range tests {
+		c := caddy.NewTestController("dns", tc.input)
+		k, err := kubernetesParse(c)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Test %d: Expected no error, got %q", err)
+		}
+
+		zl := len(k.Zones)
+		if zl != len(tc.expectedZones) {
+			t.Errorf("Test %d: Expected kubernetes controller to be initialized with %d zones, found %d zones: '%v'", i, len(tc.expectedZones), zl)
+		}
+		for i, z := range tc.expectedZones {
+			if k.Zones[i] != z {
+				t.Errorf("Test %d: Expected zones to be %q, got %q", i, z, k.Zones[i])
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}