diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/audit.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/audit.go
index 4e2fa0acd1c..f23232a0b97 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/audit.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/audit.go
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ func (o *AuditWebhookOptions) applyTo(c *server.Config) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	webhook, err := pluginwebhook.NewBackend(o.ConfigFile, auditv1beta1.SchemeGroupVersion)
+	webhook, err := pluginwebhook.NewBackend(o.ConfigFile, auditv1beta1.SchemeGroupVersion, o.InitialBackoff)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("initializing audit webhook: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook.go
index a5ce7285c58..2b25be3ff85 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook.go
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ type backend struct {
 }
 
 // NewBackend returns an audit backend that sends events over HTTP to an external service.
-func NewBackend(kubeConfigFile string, groupVersion schema.GroupVersion) (audit.Backend, error) {
-	w, err := loadWebhook(kubeConfigFile, groupVersion, DefaultInitialBackoff)
+func NewBackend(kubeConfigFile string, groupVersion schema.GroupVersion, initialBackoff time.Duration) (audit.Backend, error) {
+	w, err := loadWebhook(kubeConfigFile, groupVersion, initialBackoff)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook_test.go
index 95b0de3082d..909c2b85d9a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/plugin/pkg/audit/webhook/webhook_test.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func newWebhook(t *testing.T, endpoint string, groupVersion schema.GroupVersion)
 	// NOTE(ericchiang): Do we need to use a proper serializer?
 	require.NoError(t, stdjson.NewEncoder(f).Encode(config), "writing kubeconfig")
 
-	b, err := NewBackend(f.Name(), groupVersion)
+	b, err := NewBackend(f.Name(), groupVersion, DefaultInitialBackoff)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "initializing backend")
 
 	return b.(*backend)