diff --git a/cluster/addons/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup.yaml b/cluster/addons/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup.yaml
index 9b7fdf1e172..cf7e5b5f515 100644
--- a/cluster/addons/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/cluster/addons/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup/etcd-empty-dir-cleanup.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ kind: Pod
 metadata:
   name: etcd-empty-dir-cleanup
   namespace: kube-system
+  annotations:
+    scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod: ''
   labels:
     k8s-app: etcd-empty-dir-cleanup
 spec:
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest
index b0eee99cafc..1f1be4ffe8c 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@
 "kind": "Pod",
 "metadata": {
   "name":"etcd-server{{ suffix }}",
-  "namespace": "kube-system"
+  "namespace": "kube-system",
+  "annotations": {
+    "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod": ""
+  }
 },
 "spec":{
 "hostNetwork": true,
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-addons/kube-addon-manager.yaml b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-addons/kube-addon-manager.yaml
index e2e8c9b59a7..c2a6bcef1c2 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-addons/kube-addon-manager.yaml
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-addons/kube-addon-manager.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ kind: Pod
 metadata:
   name: kube-addon-manager
   namespace: kube-system
+  annotations:
+    scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod: ''
   labels:
     component: kube-addon-manager
 spec:
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
index 5ac6d5fcd42..4f6ad7bdfd6 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
@@ -212,6 +212,9 @@
 "metadata": {
   "name":"kube-apiserver",
   "namespace": "kube-system",
+  "annotations": {
+    "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod": ""
+  },
   "labels": {
     "tier": "control-plane",
     "component": "kube-apiserver"
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest
index acd820cfa0c..9911d09b8d3 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@
 "metadata": {
   "name":"kube-controller-manager",
   "namespace": "kube-system",
+  "annotations": {
+    "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod": ""
+  },
   "labels": {
     "tier": "control-plane",
     "component": "kube-controller-manager"
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-scheduler/kube-scheduler.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-scheduler/kube-scheduler.manifest
index 4176f8f79f0..53c2e34e00b 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-scheduler/kube-scheduler.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-scheduler/kube-scheduler.manifest
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
 "metadata": {
   "name":"kube-scheduler",
   "namespace": "kube-system",
+  "annotations": {
+    "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod": ""
+  },
   "labels": {
     "tier": "control-plane",
     "component": "kube-scheduler"
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/l7-gcp/glbc.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/l7-gcp/glbc.manifest
index bf0d474c596..85b833248fb 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/l7-gcp/glbc.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/l7-gcp/glbc.manifest
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ kind: Pod
 metadata:
   name: l7-lb-controller-v0.9.5
   namespace: kube-system
+  annotations:
+    scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod: ''
   labels:
     k8s-app: glbc
     version: v0.9.5
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/rescheduler/rescheduler.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/rescheduler/rescheduler.manifest
index 81974dec60f..d647a7be973 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/rescheduler/rescheduler.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/rescheduler/rescheduler.manifest
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ kind: Pod
 metadata:
   name: rescheduler-v0.3.0
   namespace: kube-system
+  annotations:
+    scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod: ''
   labels:
     k8s-app: rescheduler
     version: v0.3.0
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/BUILD b/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/BUILD
index c9054bdc696..5d15a2dda07 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/BUILD
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/bootstrap/api:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubeapiserver/authorizer/modes:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubectl/cmd/util:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/kubelet/types:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/version:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/ghodss/yaml:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource:go_default_library",
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/manifests.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/manifests.go
index 8c5d03d0e54..55fe560c461 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/manifests.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/master/manifests.go
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	bootstrapapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/bootstrap/api"
 	authzmodes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubeapiserver/authorizer/modes"
 	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util"
+	kubetypes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/version"
 )
 
@@ -301,9 +302,10 @@ func componentPod(container api.Container, volumes ...api.Volume) api.Pod {
 			Kind:       "Pod",
 		},
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:      container.Name,
-			Namespace: "kube-system",
-			Labels:    map[string]string{"component": container.Name, "tier": "control-plane"},
+			Name:        container.Name,
+			Namespace:   "kube-system",
+			Annotations: map[string]string{kubetypes.CriticalPodAnnotationKey: ""},
+			Labels:      map[string]string{"component": container.Name, "tier": "control-plane"},
 		},
 		Spec: api.PodSpec{
 			Containers:  []api.Container{container},