diff --git a/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/plugins.go b/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/plugins.go
index 0f3ae7790ba..ed63fb844a5 100644
--- a/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/plugins.go
+++ b/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/plugins.go
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission/plugin/namespace/lifecycle"
 	mutatingwebhook "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission/plugin/webhook/mutating"
 	validatingwebhook "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission/plugin/webhook/validating"
-	utilfeature "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/features"
 )
 
 // AllOrderedPlugins is the list of all the plugins in order.
@@ -143,11 +141,8 @@ func DefaultOffAdmissionPlugins() sets.String {
 		storageobjectinuseprotection.PluginName, //StorageObjectInUseProtection
 		podpriority.PluginName,                  //PodPriority
 		nodetaint.PluginName,                    //TaintNodesByCondition
+		runtimeclass.PluginName,                 //RuntimeClass, gates internally on the feature
 	)
 
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.RuntimeClass) {
-		defaultOnPlugins.Insert(runtimeclass.PluginName) //RuntimeClass
-	}
-
 	return sets.NewString(AllOrderedPlugins...).Difference(defaultOnPlugins)
 }
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/admission/runtimeclass/admission.go b/plugin/pkg/admission/runtimeclass/admission.go
index b8c9831546a..8f1731bbd02 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/admission/runtimeclass/admission.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/admission/runtimeclass/admission.go
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ var _ genericadmissioninitailizer.WantsExternalKubeInformerFactory = &RuntimeCla
 
 // SetExternalKubeInformerFactory implements the WantsExternalKubeInformerFactory interface.
 func (r *RuntimeClass) SetExternalKubeInformerFactory(f informers.SharedInformerFactory) {
+	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.RuntimeClass) {
+		return
+	}
 	runtimeClassInformer := f.Node().V1beta1().RuntimeClasses()
 	r.SetReadyFunc(runtimeClassInformer.Informer().HasSynced)
 	r.runtimeClassLister = runtimeClassInformer.Lister()
@@ -74,6 +77,9 @@ func (r *RuntimeClass) SetExternalKubeInformerFactory(f informers.SharedInformer
 
 // ValidateInitialization implements the WantsExternalKubeInformerFactory interface.
 func (r *RuntimeClass) ValidateInitialization() error {
+	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.RuntimeClass) {
+		return nil
+	}
 	if r.runtimeClassLister == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("missing RuntimeClass lister")
 	}
@@ -110,6 +116,10 @@ func (r *RuntimeClass) Admit(ctx context.Context, attributes admission.Attribute
 
 // Validate makes sure that pod adhere's to RuntimeClass's definition
 func (r *RuntimeClass) Validate(ctx context.Context, attributes admission.Attributes, o admission.ObjectInterfaces) error {
+	if !utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.RuntimeClass) {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	// Ignore all calls to subresources or resources other than pods.
 	if shouldIgnore(attributes) {
 		return nil