diff --git a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
index bb470d41bc4..4ee4816d54b 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
@@ -284,6 +284,18 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 			return err
 		}
 
+		if curNode.Spec.ProviderID == "" {
+			providerID, err := cloudprovider.GetInstanceProviderID(cnc.cloud, types.NodeName(curNode.Name))
+			if err == nil {
+				curNode.Spec.ProviderID = providerID
+			} else {
+				// we should attempt to set providerID on curNode, but
+				// we can continue if we fail since we will attempt to set
+				// node addresses given the node name in getNodeAddressesByProviderIDOrName
+				glog.Errorf("failed to set node provider id: %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+
 		nodeAddresses, err := getNodeAddressesByProviderIDOrName(instances, curNode)
 		if err != nil {
 			glog.Errorf("%v", err)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller_test.go
index 033dbe90889..6f054432b9f 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller_test.go
@@ -804,3 +804,179 @@ func TestNodeAddressesChangeDetected(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Node address changes are not detected correctly")
 	}
 }
+
+// This test checks that a node is set with the correct providerID
+func TestNodeProviderID(t *testing.T) {
+	fnh := &testutil.FakeNodeHandler{
+		Existing: []*v1.Node{
+			{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:              "node0",
+					CreationTimestamp: metav1.Date(2012, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+					Labels:            map[string]string{},
+				},
+				Status: v1.NodeStatus{
+					Conditions: []v1.NodeCondition{
+						{
+							Type:               v1.NodeReady,
+							Status:             v1.ConditionUnknown,
+							LastHeartbeatTime:  metav1.Date(2015, 1, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+							LastTransitionTime: metav1.Date(2015, 1, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: v1.NodeSpec{
+					Taints: []v1.Taint{
+						{
+							Key:    "ImproveCoverageTaint",
+							Value:  "true",
+							Effect: v1.TaintEffectNoSchedule,
+						},
+						{
+							Key:    algorithm.TaintExternalCloudProvider,
+							Value:  "true",
+							Effect: v1.TaintEffectNoSchedule,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		Clientset:      fake.NewSimpleClientset(&v1.PodList{}),
+		DeleteWaitChan: make(chan struct{}),
+	}
+
+	factory := informers.NewSharedInformerFactory(fnh, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc())
+
+	fakeCloud := &fakecloud.FakeCloud{
+		InstanceTypes: map[types.NodeName]string{},
+		Addresses: []v1.NodeAddress{
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeHostName,
+				Address: "node0.cloud.internal",
+			},
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeInternalIP,
+				Address: "10.0.0.1",
+			},
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeExternalIP,
+				Address: "132.143.154.163",
+			},
+		},
+		Provider: "test",
+		ExtID: map[types.NodeName]string{
+			types.NodeName("node0"): "12345",
+		},
+		Err: nil,
+	}
+
+	eventBroadcaster := record.NewBroadcaster()
+	cloudNodeController := &CloudNodeController{
+		kubeClient:                fnh,
+		nodeInformer:              factory.Core().V1().Nodes(),
+		cloud:                     fakeCloud,
+		nodeMonitorPeriod:         5 * time.Second,
+		nodeStatusUpdateFrequency: 1 * time.Second,
+		recorder:                  eventBroadcaster.NewRecorder(scheme.Scheme, v1.EventSource{Component: "cloud-controller-manager"}),
+	}
+	eventBroadcaster.StartLogging(glog.Infof)
+
+	cloudNodeController.AddCloudNode(fnh.Existing[0])
+
+	if len(fnh.UpdatedNodes) != 1 || fnh.UpdatedNodes[0].Name != "node0" {
+		t.Errorf("Node was not updated")
+	}
+
+	if fnh.UpdatedNodes[0].Spec.ProviderID != "test://12345" {
+		t.Errorf("Node ProviderID not set correctly")
+	}
+}
+
+// This test checks that a node's provider ID will not be overwritten
+func TestNodeProviderIDAlreadySet(t *testing.T) {
+	fnh := &testutil.FakeNodeHandler{
+		Existing: []*v1.Node{
+			{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:              "node0",
+					CreationTimestamp: metav1.Date(2012, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+					Labels:            map[string]string{},
+				},
+				Status: v1.NodeStatus{
+					Conditions: []v1.NodeCondition{
+						{
+							Type:               v1.NodeReady,
+							Status:             v1.ConditionUnknown,
+							LastHeartbeatTime:  metav1.Date(2015, 1, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+							LastTransitionTime: metav1.Date(2015, 1, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC),
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				Spec: v1.NodeSpec{
+					ProviderID: "test-provider-id",
+					Taints: []v1.Taint{
+						{
+							Key:    "ImproveCoverageTaint",
+							Value:  "true",
+							Effect: v1.TaintEffectNoSchedule,
+						},
+						{
+							Key:    algorithm.TaintExternalCloudProvider,
+							Value:  "true",
+							Effect: v1.TaintEffectNoSchedule,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		Clientset:      fake.NewSimpleClientset(&v1.PodList{}),
+		DeleteWaitChan: make(chan struct{}),
+	}
+
+	factory := informers.NewSharedInformerFactory(fnh, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc())
+
+	fakeCloud := &fakecloud.FakeCloud{
+		InstanceTypes: map[types.NodeName]string{},
+		Addresses: []v1.NodeAddress{
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeHostName,
+				Address: "node0.cloud.internal",
+			},
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeInternalIP,
+				Address: "10.0.0.1",
+			},
+			{
+				Type:    v1.NodeExternalIP,
+				Address: "132.143.154.163",
+			},
+		},
+		Provider: "test",
+		ExtID: map[types.NodeName]string{
+			types.NodeName("node0"): "12345",
+		},
+		Err: nil,
+	}
+
+	eventBroadcaster := record.NewBroadcaster()
+	cloudNodeController := &CloudNodeController{
+		kubeClient:                fnh,
+		nodeInformer:              factory.Core().V1().Nodes(),
+		cloud:                     fakeCloud,
+		nodeMonitorPeriod:         5 * time.Second,
+		nodeStatusUpdateFrequency: 1 * time.Second,
+		recorder:                  eventBroadcaster.NewRecorder(scheme.Scheme, v1.EventSource{Component: "cloud-controller-manager"}),
+	}
+	eventBroadcaster.StartLogging(glog.Infof)
+
+	cloudNodeController.AddCloudNode(fnh.Existing[0])
+
+	if len(fnh.UpdatedNodes) != 1 || fnh.UpdatedNodes[0].Name != "node0" {
+		t.Errorf("Node was not updated")
+	}
+
+	// CCM node controller should not overwrite provider if it's already set
+	if fnh.UpdatedNodes[0].Spec.ProviderID != "test-provider-id" {
+		t.Errorf("Node ProviderID not set correctly")
+	}
+}