diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
index edd9f652f4b..3aa10e57ac4 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ touch /var/log/etcd-events.log:
         server_port: 2380
         cpulimit: '"200m"'
 
+# Switch on second etcd instance if there are more than 50 nodes.
+{% if pillar['num_nodes'] is defined and pillar['num_nodes'] > 50 -%}
 /etc/kubernetes/manifests/etcd-events.manifest:
   file.managed:
     - source: salt://etcd/etcd.manifest
@@ -81,3 +83,4 @@ touch /var/log/etcd-events.log:
         port: 4002
         server_port: 2381
         cpulimit: '"100m"'
+{% endif -%}
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
index f43deb9f9b0..fbc000209c4 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
@@ -41,7 +41,11 @@
 {% endif -%}
 
 {% set etcd_servers = "--etcd-servers=http://127.0.0.1:4001" -%}
-{% set etcd_servers_overrides = "--etcd-servers-overrides=/events#http://127.0.0.1:4002" -%}
+{% set etcd_servers_overrides = "" -%}
+# If there are more than 50 nodes, there is a dedicated etcd instance for events.
+{% if pillar['num_nodes'] is defined and pillar['num_nodes'] > 50 -%}
+	{% set etcd_servers_overrides = "--etcd-servers-overrides=/events#http://127.0.0.1:4002" -%}
+{% endif -%}
 
 {% set service_cluster_ip_range = "" -%}
 {% if pillar['service_cluster_ip_range'] is defined -%}