diff --git a/contrib/recipes/client.go b/contrib/recipes/client.go
index 8cf357197..428782d22 100644
--- a/contrib/recipes/client.go
+++ b/contrib/recipes/client.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ var (
 	ErrKeyExists      = errors.New("key already exists")
 	ErrWaitMismatch   = errors.New("unexpected wait result")
 	ErrTooManyClients = errors.New("too many clients")
+	ErrNoWatcher      = errors.New("no watcher channel")
 )
 
 // deleteRevKey deletes a key by revision, returning false if key is missing
diff --git a/contrib/recipes/watch.go b/contrib/recipes/watch.go
index 444073f94..7a869736c 100644
--- a/contrib/recipes/watch.go
+++ b/contrib/recipes/watch.go
@@ -17,138 +17,41 @@ package recipe
 import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/Godeps/_workspace/src/golang.org/x/net/context"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/clientv3"
-	pb "github.com/coreos/etcd/etcdserver/etcdserverpb"
-	"github.com/coreos/etcd/storage"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/storage/storagepb"
 )
 
-type Watcher struct {
-	wstream pb.Watch_WatchClient
-	cancel  context.CancelFunc
-	donec   chan struct{}
-	id      storage.WatchID
-	recvc   chan *storagepb.Event
-	lastErr error
-}
-
-func NewWatcher(c *clientv3.Client, key string, rev int64) (*Watcher, error) {
-	return newWatcher(c, key, rev, false)
-}
-
-func NewPrefixWatcher(c *clientv3.Client, prefix string, rev int64) (*Watcher, error) {
-	return newWatcher(c, prefix, rev, true)
-}
-
-func newWatcher(c *clientv3.Client, key string, rev int64, isPrefix bool) (*Watcher, error) {
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	w, err := c.Watch.Watch(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	req := &pb.WatchCreateRequest{StartRevision: rev}
-	if isPrefix {
-		req.Prefix = []byte(key)
-	} else {
-		req.Key = []byte(key)
-	}
-
-	if err := w.Send(&pb.WatchRequest{RequestUnion: &pb.WatchRequest_CreateRequest{CreateRequest: req}}); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	wresp, err := w.Recv()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	if len(wresp.Events) != 0 || wresp.Created != true {
-		return nil, ErrWaitMismatch
-	}
-	ret := &Watcher{
-		wstream: w,
-		cancel:  cancel,
-		donec:   make(chan struct{}),
-		id:      storage.WatchID(wresp.WatchId),
-		recvc:   make(chan *storagepb.Event),
-	}
-	go ret.recvLoop()
-	return ret, nil
-}
-
-func (w *Watcher) Close() error {
-	defer w.cancel()
-	if w.wstream == nil {
-		return w.lastErr
-	}
-	req := &pb.WatchRequest{RequestUnion: &pb.WatchRequest_CancelRequest{
-		CancelRequest: &pb.WatchCancelRequest{
-			WatchId: int64(w.id)}}}
-	err := w.wstream.Send(req)
-	if err != nil && w.lastErr == nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	w.wstream.CloseSend()
-	w.donec <- struct{}{}
-	<-w.donec
-	w.wstream = nil
-	return w.lastErr
-}
-
-func (w *Watcher) Chan() <-chan *storagepb.Event { return w.recvc }
-
-func (w *Watcher) recvLoop() {
-	defer close(w.donec)
-	for {
-		wresp, err := w.wstream.Recv()
-		if err != nil {
-			w.lastErr = err
-			break
-		}
-		for i := range wresp.Events {
-			select {
-			case <-w.donec:
-				close(w.recvc)
-				return
-			case w.recvc <- wresp.Events[i]:
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	close(w.recvc)
-	<-w.donec
-}
-
-func (w *Watcher) waitEvents(evs []storagepb.Event_EventType) (*storagepb.Event, error) {
-	i := 0
-	for {
-		ev, ok := <-w.recvc
-		if !ok {
-			break
-		}
-		if ev.Type == evs[i] {
-			i++
-			if i == len(evs) {
-				return ev, nil
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return nil, w.Close()
-}
-
 // WaitEvents waits on a key until it observes the given events and returns the final one.
 func WaitEvents(c *clientv3.Client, key string, rev int64, evs []storagepb.Event_EventType) (*storagepb.Event, error) {
-	w, err := NewWatcher(c, key, rev)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	w := clientv3.NewWatcher(c)
+	wc := w.Watch(context.Background(), key, rev)
+	if wc == nil {
+		w.Close()
+		return nil, ErrNoWatcher
 	}
-	defer w.Close()
-	return w.waitEvents(evs)
+	return waitEvents(wc, evs), w.Close()
 }
 
 func WaitPrefixEvents(c *clientv3.Client, prefix string, rev int64, evs []storagepb.Event_EventType) (*storagepb.Event, error) {
-	w, err := NewPrefixWatcher(c, prefix, rev)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	w := clientv3.NewWatcher(c)
+	wc := w.WatchPrefix(context.Background(), prefix, rev)
+	if wc == nil {
+		w.Close()
+		return nil, ErrNoWatcher
 	}
-	defer w.Close()
-	return w.waitEvents(evs)
+	return waitEvents(wc, evs), w.Close()
+}
+
+func waitEvents(wc clientv3.WatchChan, evs []storagepb.Event_EventType) *storagepb.Event {
+	i := 0
+	for wresp := range wc {
+		for _, ev := range wresp.Events {
+			if ev.Type == evs[i] {
+				i++
+				if i == len(evs) {
+					return ev
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
 }