diff --git a/pkg/api/helpers.go b/pkg/api/helpers.go
index 4ada0ba3..4705e11f 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helpers.go
@@ -465,6 +465,44 @@ const (
 	ObjectTTLAnnotationKey string = "node.alpha.kubernetes.io/ttl"
 )
 
+// AddOrUpdateTolerationInPod tries to add a toleration to the pod's toleration list.
+// Returns true if something was updated, false otherwise.
+func AddOrUpdateTolerationInPod(pod *Pod, toleration *Toleration) (bool, error) {
+	podTolerations := pod.Spec.Tolerations
+
+	var newTolerations []Toleration
+	updated := false
+	for i := range podTolerations {
+		if toleration.MatchToleration(&podTolerations[i]) {
+			if Semantic.DeepEqual(toleration, podTolerations[i]) {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+			newTolerations = append(newTolerations, *toleration)
+			updated = true
+			continue
+		}
+
+		newTolerations = append(newTolerations, podTolerations[i])
+	}
+
+	if !updated {
+		newTolerations = append(newTolerations, *toleration)
+	}
+
+	pod.Spec.Tolerations = newTolerations
+	return true, nil
+}
+
+// MatchToleration checks if the toleration matches tolerationToMatch. Tolerations are unique by <key,effect,operator,value>,
+// if the two tolerations have same <key,effect,operator,value> combination, regard as they match.
+// TODO: uniqueness check for tolerations in api validations.
+func (t *Toleration) MatchToleration(tolerationToMatch *Toleration) bool {
+	return t.Key == tolerationToMatch.Key &&
+		t.Effect == tolerationToMatch.Effect &&
+		t.Operator == tolerationToMatch.Operator &&
+		t.Value == tolerationToMatch.Value
+}
+
 // TolerationToleratesTaint checks if the toleration tolerates the taint.
 func TolerationToleratesTaint(toleration *Toleration, taint *Taint) bool {
 	if len(toleration.Effect) != 0 && toleration.Effect != taint.Effect {