diff --git a/pkg/syncer/resourcesync/controller.go b/pkg/syncer/resourcesync/controller.go
index 4f3604e52cb3..82b1ad1975ad 100644
--- a/pkg/syncer/resourcesync/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/syncer/resourcesync/controller.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ const (
 // (one for downstream and 2 for upstream, for syncing and upsyncing).
 func NewSyncTargetGVRSource(
 	syncerLogger logr.Logger,
-	upstreamSyncerDiscovery discovery.DiscoveryInterface,
+	downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient discovery.DiscoveryInterface,
 	upstreamDynamicClusterClient kcpdynamic.ClusterInterface,
 	downstreamDynamicClient dynamic.Interface,
 	downstreamKubeClient kubernetes.Interface,
@@ -84,14 +84,14 @@ func NewSyncTargetGVRSource(
 	syncTargetUID types.UID,
 ) (*controller, error) {
 	c := &controller{
-		queue:                         workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), controllerName),
-		upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient: memory.NewMemCacheClient(upstreamSyncerDiscovery),
-		downstreamKubeClient:          downstreamKubeClient,
-		syncTargetClient:              syncTargetClient,
-		syncTargetUID:                 syncTargetUID,
-		syncTargetLister:              syncTargetInformer.Lister(),
-		synctargetInformerHasSynced:   syncTargetInformer.Informer().HasSynced,
-		gvrsToWatch:                   map[schema.GroupVersionResource]informer.GVRPartialMetadata{},
+		queue:                           workqueue.NewNamedRateLimitingQueue(workqueue.DefaultControllerRateLimiter(), controllerName),
+		downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient: memory.NewMemCacheClient(downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient),
+		downstreamKubeClient:            downstreamKubeClient,
+		syncTargetClient:                syncTargetClient,
+		syncTargetUID:                   syncTargetUID,
+		syncTargetLister:                syncTargetInformer.Lister(),
+		synctargetInformerHasSynced:     syncTargetInformer.Informer().HasSynced,
+		gvrsToWatch:                     map[schema.GroupVersionResource]informer.GVRPartialMetadata{},
 	}
 
 	logger := logging.WithReconciler(syncerLogger, controllerName)
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ type controller struct {
 	queue                workqueue.RateLimitingInterface
 	downstreamKubeClient kubernetes.Interface
 
-	upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient discovery.CachedDiscoveryInterface
+	downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient discovery.CachedDiscoveryInterface
 
 	syncTargetUID               types.UID
 	syncTargetLister            workloadv1alpha1listers.SyncTargetLister
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func (c *controller) process(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
 
 	requiredGVRs := getAllGVRs(syncTarget)
 
-	c.upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient.Invalidate()
+	c.downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient.Invalidate()
 
 	var errs []error
 	var unauthorizedGVRs []string
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ func (c *controller) addGVR(ctx context.Context, gvr schema.GroupVersionResource
 }
 
 func (c *controller) getGVRPartialMetadata(gvr schema.GroupVersionResource) (*informer.GVRPartialMetadata, error) {
-	apiResourceList, err := c.upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient.ServerResourcesForGroupVersion(gvr.GroupVersion().String())
+	apiResourceList, err := c.downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient.ServerResourcesForGroupVersion(gvr.GroupVersion().String())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/syncer/syncer.go b/pkg/syncer/syncer.go
index 95ff8f616efa..294a66df9d81 100644
--- a/pkg/syncer/syncer.go
+++ b/pkg/syncer/syncer.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"time"
 
-	kcpdiscovery "github.com/kcp-dev/client-go/discovery"
 	kcpdynamic "github.com/kcp-dev/client-go/dynamic"
 	"github.com/kcp-dev/logicalcluster/v3"
 
@@ -33,6 +32,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/discovery"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 	kubernetesinformers "k8s.io/client-go/informers"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
@@ -198,14 +198,10 @@ func StartSyncer(ctx context.Context, cfg *SyncerConfig, numSyncerThreads int, i
 	// syncerNamespaceInformerFactory to watch some DNS-related resources in the dns namespace
 	syncerNamespaceInformerFactory := kubernetesinformers.NewSharedInformerFactoryWithOptions(downstreamKubeClient, resyncPeriod, kubernetesinformers.WithNamespace(syncerNamespace))
 
-	upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient, err := kcpdiscovery.NewForConfig(upstreamConfig)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
+	downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient := discovery.NewDiscoveryClient(downstreamKubeClient.RESTClient())
 	syncTargetGVRSource, err := resourcesync.NewSyncTargetGVRSource(
 		logger,
-		upstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient.DiscoveryInterface,
+		downstreamSyncerDiscoveryClient,
 		upstreamSyncerClusterClient,
 		downstreamDynamicClient,
 		downstreamKubeClient,
@@ -219,7 +215,18 @@ func StartSyncer(ctx context.Context, cfg *SyncerConfig, numSyncerThreads int, i
 		return err
 	}
 
-	ddsifForUpstreamSyncer, err := ddsif.NewDiscoveringDynamicSharedInformerFactory(upstreamSyncerClusterClient, nil, nil, syncTargetGVRSource, cache.Indexers{})
+	ddsifForUpstreamSyncer, err := ddsif.NewDiscoveringDynamicSharedInformerFactory(upstreamSyncerClusterClient, nil, nil,
+		&filteredGVRSource{
+			GVRSource: syncTargetGVRSource,
+			keepGVR: func(gvr schema.GroupVersionResource) bool {
+				// Don't expose pods or endpoints via the syncer vw
+				if gvr.Group == corev1.GroupName && (gvr.Resource == "pods" || gvr.Resource == "endpoints") {
+					return false
+				}
+				return true
+			},
+		},
+		cache.Indexers{})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/virtual/syncer/builder/build.go b/pkg/virtual/syncer/builder/build.go
index 2005259ad4f3..c5f41af0ec81 100644
--- a/pkg/virtual/syncer/builder/build.go
+++ b/pkg/virtual/syncer/builder/build.go
@@ -83,7 +83,13 @@ func BuildVirtualWorkspace(
 				virtualWorkspaceName:  SyncerVirtualWorkspaceName,
 				filteredResourceState: workloadv1alpha1.ResourceStateSync,
 				restProviderBuilder:   NewSyncerRestProvider,
-				allowedAPIFilter:      nil,
+				allowedAPIFilter: func(apiGroupResource schema.GroupResource) bool {
+					// Don't expose Endpoints or Pods via the Syncer VirtualWorkspace.
+					if apiGroupResource.Group == "" && (apiGroupResource.Resource == "pods" || apiGroupResource.Resource == "endpoints") {
+						return false
+					}
+					return true
+				},
 				transformer: &transformations.SyncerResourceTransformer{
 					TransformationProvider:   &transformations.SpecDiffTransformation{},
 					SummarizingRulesProvider: &transformations.DefaultSummarizingRules{},
@@ -99,7 +105,7 @@ func BuildVirtualWorkspace(
 				restProviderBuilder:   NewUpSyncerRestProvider,
 				allowedAPIFilter: func(apiGroupResource schema.GroupResource) bool {
 					// Only allow persistentvolumes and Pods to be Upsynced.
-					return apiGroupResource.Group == "" && apiGroupResource.Resource == "persistentvolumes" || apiGroupResource.Group == "" && apiGroupResource.Resource == "pods"
+					return apiGroupResource.Group == "" && (apiGroupResource.Resource == "persistentvolumes" || apiGroupResource.Resource == "pods")
 				},
 				transformer:           &upsyncer.UpsyncerResourceTransformer{},
 				storageWrapperBuilder: upsyncer.WithStaticLabelSelectorAndInWriteCallsCheck,
diff --git a/test/e2e/virtual/syncer/virtualworkspace_test.go b/test/e2e/virtual/syncer/virtualworkspace_test.go
index 594db355e81b..cb0f9416a5b4 100644
--- a/test/e2e/virtual/syncer/virtualworkspace_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/virtual/syncer/virtualworkspace_test.go
@@ -156,27 +156,9 @@ func withRootComputeAPIResourceList(workspaceName logicalcluster.Name, rootCompu
 			Verbs:              metav1.Verbs{"get", "patch", "update"},
 			StorageVersionHash: "",
 		},
-		metav1.APIResource{
-			Kind:               "Pod",
-			Name:               "pods",
-			SingularName:       "pod",
-			Namespaced:         true,
-			Verbs:              metav1.Verbs{"get", "list", "patch", "update", "watch"},
-			ShortNames:         []string{"po"},
-			Categories:         []string{"all"},
-			StorageVersionHash: discovery.StorageVersionHash(rootComputeLogicalCluster, "", "v1", "Pod"),
-		},
-		metav1.APIResource{
-			Kind:               "Pod",
-			Name:               "pods/status",
-			SingularName:       "",
-			Namespaced:         true,
-			Verbs:              metav1.Verbs{"get", "patch", "update"},
-			StorageVersionHash: "",
-		},
 	)
 
-	return sortAPIResourceList([]*metav1.APIResourceList{
+	return []*metav1.APIResourceList{
 		deploymentsAPIResourceList(rootComputeLogicalCluster),
 		{
 			TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
@@ -204,7 +186,7 @@ func withRootComputeAPIResourceList(workspaceName logicalcluster.Name, rootCompu
 			},
 		},
 		coreResourceList,
-	})
+	}
 }
 
 func logWithTimestampf(t *testing.T, format string, args ...interface{}) {