diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/BUILD b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/BUILD
index 4d1d89f4d09..c75c10130f7 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/BUILD
@@ -45,6 +45,5 @@ go_test(
     deps = [
         "//cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version:go_default_library",
-        "//vendor/github.com/pkg/errors:go_default_library",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
index ff57b8cd40f..fa2b8e0574f 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -456,21 +457,45 @@ var (
 )
 
 // EtcdSupportedVersion returns officially supported version of etcd for a specific Kubernetes release
-// if passed version is not listed, the function returns nil and an error
-func EtcdSupportedVersion(versionString string) (*version.Version, error) {
+// If passed version is not in the given list, the function returns the nearest version with a warning
+func EtcdSupportedVersion(supportedEtcdVersion map[uint8]string, versionString string) (etcdVersion *version.Version, warning, err error) {
 	kubernetesVersion, err := version.ParseSemantic(versionString)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	desiredVersion, etcdStringVersion := uint8(kubernetesVersion.Minor()), ""
+
+	min, max := ^uint8(0), uint8(0)
+	for k, v := range supportedEtcdVersion {
+		if desiredVersion == k {
+			etcdStringVersion = v
+			break
+		}
+		if k < min {
+			min = k
+		}
+		if k > max {
+			max = k
+		}
 	}
 
-	if etcdStringVersion, ok := SupportedEtcdVersion[uint8(kubernetesVersion.Minor())]; ok {
-		etcdVersion, err := version.ParseSemantic(etcdStringVersion)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+	if len(etcdStringVersion) == 0 {
+		if desiredVersion < min {
+			etcdStringVersion = supportedEtcdVersion[min]
 		}
-		return etcdVersion, nil
+		if desiredVersion > max {
+			etcdStringVersion = supportedEtcdVersion[max]
+		}
+		warning = fmt.Errorf("could not find officially supported version of etcd for Kubernetes %s, falling back to the nearest etcd version (%s)",
+			versionString, etcdStringVersion)
 	}
-	return nil, errors.Errorf("unsupported or unknown Kubernetes version(%v)", kubernetesVersion)
+
+	etcdVersion, err = version.ParseSemantic(etcdStringVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	return etcdVersion, warning, nil
 }
 
 // GetStaticPodDirectory returns the location on the disk where the Static Pod should be present
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants_test.go
index 607a1a83974..83bc8814d63 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants_test.go
@@ -18,11 +18,8 @@ package constants
 
 import (
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version"
 	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
 )
@@ -149,50 +146,62 @@ func TestAddSelfHostedPrefix(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestEtcdSupportedVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	var supportedEtcdVersion = map[uint8]string{
+		13: "3.2.24",
+		14: "3.3.10",
+		15: "3.3.10",
+		16: "3.3.17-0",
+		17: "3.4.3-0",
+		18: "3.4.3-0",
+	}
 	var tests = []struct {
 		kubernetesVersion string
 		expectedVersion   *version.Version
-		expectedError     error
+		expectedWarning   bool
+		expectedError     bool
 	}{
 		{
-			kubernetesVersion: "1.99.0",
+			kubernetesVersion: "1.x.1",
 			expectedVersion:   nil,
-			expectedError:     errors.New("unsupported or unknown Kubernetes version(1.99.0)"),
+			expectedWarning:   false,
+			expectedError:     true,
 		},
 		{
-			kubernetesVersion: MinimumControlPlaneVersion.WithPatch(1).String(),
-			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic(SupportedEtcdVersion[uint8(MinimumControlPlaneVersion.Minor())]),
-			expectedError:     nil,
+			kubernetesVersion: "1.10.1",
+			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic("3.2.24"),
+			expectedWarning:   true,
+			expectedError:     false,
 		},
 		{
-			kubernetesVersion: CurrentKubernetesVersion.String(),
-			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic(SupportedEtcdVersion[uint8(CurrentKubernetesVersion.Minor())]),
-			expectedError:     nil,
+			kubernetesVersion: "1.99.0",
+			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic("3.4.3-0"),
+			expectedWarning:   true,
+			expectedError:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			kubernetesVersion: "v1.16.0",
+			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic("3.3.17-0"),
+			expectedWarning:   false,
+			expectedError:     false,
+		},
+		{
+			kubernetesVersion: "1.17.2",
+			expectedVersion:   version.MustParseSemantic("3.4.3-0"),
+			expectedWarning:   false,
+			expectedError:     false,
 		},
 	}
 	for _, rt := range tests {
 		t.Run(rt.kubernetesVersion, func(t *testing.T) {
-			actualVersion, actualError := EtcdSupportedVersion(rt.kubernetesVersion)
-			if actualError != nil {
-				if rt.expectedError == nil {
-					t.Errorf("failed EtcdSupportedVersion:\n\texpected no error, but got: %v", actualError)
-				} else if actualError.Error() != rt.expectedError.Error() {
-					t.Errorf(
-						"failed EtcdSupportedVersion:\n\texpected error: %v\n\t  actual error: %v",
-						rt.expectedError,
-						actualError,
-					)
-				}
-			} else {
-				if rt.expectedError != nil {
-					t.Errorf("failed EtcdSupportedVersion:\n\texpected error: %v, but got no error", rt.expectedError)
-				} else if strings.Compare(actualVersion.String(), rt.expectedVersion.String()) != 0 {
-					t.Errorf(
-						"failed EtcdSupportedVersion:\n\texpected version: %s\n\t  actual version: %s",
-						rt.expectedVersion.String(),
-						actualVersion.String(),
-					)
-				}
+			actualVersion, actualWarning, actualError := EtcdSupportedVersion(supportedEtcdVersion, rt.kubernetesVersion)
+			if (actualError != nil) != rt.expectedError {
+				t.Fatalf("expected error %v, got %v", rt.expectedError, actualError != nil)
+			}
+			if (actualWarning != nil) != rt.expectedWarning {
+				t.Fatalf("expected warning %v, got %v", rt.expectedWarning, actualWarning != nil)
+			}
+			if actualError == nil && actualVersion.String() != rt.expectedVersion.String() {
+				t.Errorf("expected version %s, got %s", rt.expectedVersion.String(), actualVersion.String())
 			}
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/images/images.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/images/images.go
index 61cca5f34ad..c5b68d67f40 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/images/images.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/images/images.go
@@ -73,10 +73,13 @@ func GetEtcdImage(cfg *kubeadmapi.ClusterConfiguration) string {
 	}
 	// Etcd uses an imageTag that corresponds to the etcd version matching the Kubernetes version
 	etcdImageTag := constants.DefaultEtcdVersion
-	etcdVersion, err := constants.EtcdSupportedVersion(cfg.KubernetesVersion)
+	etcdVersion, warning, err := constants.EtcdSupportedVersion(constants.SupportedEtcdVersion, cfg.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err == nil {
 		etcdImageTag = etcdVersion.String()
 	}
+	if warning != nil {
+		klog.Warningln(warning)
+	}
 	// unless an override is specified
 	if cfg.Etcd.Local != nil && cfg.Etcd.Local.ImageTag != "" {
 		etcdImageTag = cfg.Etcd.Local.ImageTag
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/compute.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/compute.go
index 7be74bc1684..440f330a1ea 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/compute.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/compute.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	versionutil "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version"
 	clientset "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/klog"
 	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
 	kubeadmconstants "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/addons/dns"
@@ -300,10 +301,13 @@ func minorUpgradePossibleWithPatchRelease(stableVersion, patchVersion *versionut
 }
 
 func getSuggestedEtcdVersion(kubernetesVersion string) string {
-	etcdVersion, err := kubeadmconstants.EtcdSupportedVersion(kubernetesVersion)
+	etcdVersion, warning, err := kubeadmconstants.EtcdSupportedVersion(kubeadmconstants.SupportedEtcdVersion, kubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Printf("[upgrade/versions] WARNING: No recommended etcd for requested Kubernetes version (%s)\n", kubernetesVersion)
+		klog.Warningf("[upgrade/versions] could not retrieve an etcd version for the target Kubernetes version: %v", err)
 		return "N/A"
 	}
+	if warning != nil {
+		klog.Warningf("[upgrade/versions] %v", warning)
+	}
 	return etcdVersion.String()
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
index ef6a07e9732..b90aaf105f9 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+
 	utilerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version"
 	clientset "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/klog"
 	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 	certsphase "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/certs"
@@ -281,10 +283,13 @@ func performEtcdStaticPodUpgrade(certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, client clientse
 	}
 
 	// Need to check currently used version and version from constants, if differs then upgrade
-	desiredEtcdVersion, err := constants.EtcdSupportedVersion(cfg.KubernetesVersion)
+	desiredEtcdVersion, warning, err := constants.EtcdSupportedVersion(constants.SupportedEtcdVersion, cfg.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return true, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to retrieve an etcd version for the target Kubernetes version")
 	}
+	if warning != nil {
+		klog.Warningf("[upgrade/etcd] %v", warning)
+	}
 
 	// gets the etcd version of the local/stacked etcd member running on the current machine
 	currentEtcdVersions, err := oldEtcdClient.GetClusterVersions()