diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/admission.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/admission.go
index 542c81a8691..d0334010fae 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/admission.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/admission.go
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ func (a *AdmissionOptions) ApplyTo(
 	if informers == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("admission depends on a Kubernetes core API shared informer, it cannot be nil")
 	}
+	if kubeClient == nil || dynamicClient == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("admission depends on a Kubernetes core API client, it cannot be nil")
+	}
 
 	pluginNames := a.enabledPluginNames()
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/feature.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/feature.go
index f01195560a4..a5b1372da47 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/feature.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/feature.go
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ func (o *FeatureOptions) ApplyTo(c *server.Config, clientset kubernetes.Interfac
 	c.EnableContentionProfiling = o.EnableContentionProfiling
 
 	if o.EnablePriorityAndFairness {
+		if clientset == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: priority and fairness requires a core Kubernetes client")
+		}
 		if c.MaxRequestsInFlight+c.MaxMutatingRequestsInFlight <= 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: MaxRequestsInFlight=%d and MaxMutatingRequestsInFlight=%d; they must add up to something positive", c.MaxRequestsInFlight, c.MaxMutatingRequestsInFlight)
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/recommended.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/recommended.go
index eb7e67b3670..779c4e3da92 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/recommended.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/recommended.go
@@ -120,9 +120,18 @@ func (o *RecommendedOptions) ApplyTo(config *server.RecommendedConfig) error {
 	if err := o.CoreAPI.ApplyTo(config); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	kubeClient, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config.ClientConfig)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	var kubeClient *kubernetes.Clientset
+	var dynamicClient *dynamic.DynamicClient
+	if config.ClientConfig != nil {
+		var err error
+		kubeClient, err = kubernetes.NewForConfig(config.ClientConfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		dynamicClient, err = dynamic.NewForConfig(config.ClientConfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 	if err := o.Features.ApplyTo(&config.Config, kubeClient, config.SharedInformerFactory); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -131,10 +140,6 @@ func (o *RecommendedOptions) ApplyTo(config *server.RecommendedConfig) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	dynamicClient, err := dynamic.NewForConfig(config.ClientConfig)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
 	if err := o.Admission.ApplyTo(&config.Config, config.SharedInformerFactory, kubeClient, dynamicClient, o.FeatureGate,
 		initializers...); err != nil {
 		return err