diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
index fb43504227c..82cf5133f4f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
@@ -103,9 +103,10 @@ func diffError(err error) exec.ExitError {
 type DiffOptions struct {
 	FilenameOptions resource.FilenameOptions
 
-	ServerSideApply bool
-	FieldManager    string
-	ForceConflicts  bool
+	ServerSideApply   bool
+	FieldManager      string
+	ForceConflicts    bool
+	ShowManagedFields bool
 
 	Selector         string
 	OpenAPISchema    openapi.Resources
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@ func NewCmdDiff(f cmdutil.Factory, streams genericclioptions.IOStreams) *cobra.C
 	usage := "contains the configuration to diff"
 	cmd.Flags().StringArray("prune-allowlist", []string{}, "Overwrite the default whitelist with <group/version/kind> for --prune")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool("prune", false, "Include resources that would be deleted by pruning. Can be used with -l and default shows all resources would be pruned")
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&options.ShowManagedFields, "show-managed-fields", options.ShowManagedFields, "If true, include managed fields in the diff.")
 	cmdutil.AddFilenameOptionFlags(cmd, &options.FilenameOptions, usage)
 	cmdutil.AddServerSideApplyFlags(cmd)
 	cmdutil.AddFieldManagerFlagVar(cmd, &options.FieldManager, apply.FieldManagerClientSideApply)
@@ -555,7 +557,7 @@ func NewDiffer(from, to string) (*Differ, error) {
 }
 
 // Diff diffs to versions of a specific object, and print both versions to directories.
-func (d *Differ) Diff(obj Object, printer Printer) error {
+func (d *Differ) Diff(obj Object, printer Printer, showManagedFields bool) error {
 	from, err := d.From.getObject(obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -565,6 +567,11 @@ func (d *Differ) Diff(obj Object, printer Printer) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if !showManagedFields {
+		from = omitManagedFields(from)
+		to = omitManagedFields(to)
+	}
+
 	// Mask secret values if object is V1Secret
 	if gvk := to.GetObjectKind().GroupVersionKind(); gvk.Version == "v1" && gvk.Kind == "Secret" {
 		m, err := NewMasker(from, to)
@@ -583,6 +590,16 @@ func (d *Differ) Diff(obj Object, printer Printer) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func omitManagedFields(o runtime.Object) runtime.Object {
+	a, err := meta.Accessor(o)
+	if err != nil {
+		// The object is not a `metav1.Object`, ignore it.
+		return o
+	}
+	a.SetManagedFields(nil)
+	return o
+}
+
 // Run runs the diff program against both directories.
 func (d *Differ) Run(diff *DiffProgram) error {
 	return diff.Run(d.From.Dir.Name, d.To.Dir.Name)
@@ -653,7 +670,7 @@ func (o *DiffOptions) Complete(f cmdutil.Factory, cmd *cobra.Command, args []str
 	return nil
 }
 
-// RunDiff uses the factory to parse file arguments, find the version to
+// Run uses the factory to parse file arguments, find the version to
 // diff, and find each Info object for each files, and runs against the
 // differ.
 func (o *DiffOptions) Run() error {
@@ -718,7 +735,7 @@ func (o *DiffOptions) Run() error {
 				o.pruner.MarkVisited(info)
 			}
 
-			err = differ.Diff(obj, printer)
+			err = differ.Diff(obj, printer, o.ShowManagedFields)
 			if !isConflict(err) {
 				break
 			}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff_test.go
index d88f7ec378e..ca86b7ab0a1 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package diff
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path"
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ func TestDiffer(t *testing.T) {
 		live:   map[string]interface{}{"live": true},
 		merged: map[string]interface{}{"merged": true},
 	}
-	err = diff.Diff(&obj, Printer{})
+	err = diff.Diff(&obj, Printer{}, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -223,6 +224,85 @@ func TestDiffer(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestShowManagedFields(t *testing.T) {
+	diff, err := NewDiffer("LIVE", "MERGED")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer diff.TearDown()
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name                string
+		showManagedFields   bool
+		expectedFromContent string
+		expectedToContent   string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:              "without managed fields",
+			showManagedFields: false,
+			expectedFromContent: `live: true
+metadata:
+  name: foo
+`,
+			expectedToContent: `merged: true
+metadata:
+  name: foo
+`,
+		},
+		{
+			name:              "with managed fields",
+			showManagedFields: true,
+			expectedFromContent: `live: true
+metadata:
+  managedFields: mf-data
+  name: foo
+`,
+			expectedToContent: `merged: true
+metadata:
+  managedFields: mf-data
+  name: foo
+`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for i, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			obj := FakeObject{
+				name: fmt.Sprintf("TestCase%d", i),
+				live: map[string]interface{}{
+					"live": true,
+					"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+						"managedFields": "mf-data",
+						"name":          "foo",
+					},
+				},
+				merged: map[string]interface{}{
+					"merged": true,
+					"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+						"managedFields": "mf-data",
+						"name":          "foo",
+					},
+				},
+			}
+
+			err = diff.Diff(&obj, Printer{}, tc.showManagedFields)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			actualFromContent, _ := ioutil.ReadFile(path.Join(diff.From.Dir.Name, obj.Name()))
+			if string(actualFromContent) != tc.expectedFromContent {
+				t.Fatalf("File has %q, expected %q", string(actualFromContent), tc.expectedFromContent)
+			}
+
+			actualToContent, _ := ioutil.ReadFile(path.Join(diff.To.Dir.Name, obj.Name()))
+			if string(actualToContent) != tc.expectedToContent {
+				t.Fatalf("File has %q, expected %q", string(actualToContent), tc.expectedToContent)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestMasker(t *testing.T) {
 	type diff struct {
 		from runtime.Object