diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-kubeapiserver.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-kubeapiserver.sh
index 7b41e6118ad..aa5a9e35f2f 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-kubeapiserver.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-kubeapiserver.sh
@@ -256,6 +256,9 @@ function start-kube-apiserver {
   if [[ -n "${FEATURE_GATES:-}" ]]; then
     params+=" --feature-gates=${FEATURE_GATES}"
   fi
+  if [[ -n "${KUBE_EMULATED_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+    params+=" --emulated-version=kube=${KUBE_EMULATED_VERSION}"
+  fi
   if [[ -n "${MASTER_ADVERTISE_ADDRESS:-}" ]]; then
     params+=" --advertise-address=${MASTER_ADVERTISE_ADDRESS}"
   elif [[ -n "${PROJECT_ID:-}" && -n "${TOKEN_URL:-}" && -n "${TOKEN_BODY:-}" && -n "${NODE_NETWORK:-}" ]]; then