diff --git a/build/common.sh b/build/common.sh
index 67de4aa7eaa..1d0b17cfd9d 100755
--- a/build/common.sh
+++ b/build/common.sh
@@ -950,6 +950,24 @@ function kube::release::package_kube_manifests_tarball() {
   mkdir -p "${dst_dir}/dns"
   tar c -C "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns" ${objects} | tar x -C "${dst_dir}/dns"
 
+  # We leave the `{{ pillar['federations_domain_map'] }}` parameter as is, if
+  # the right federation environment variables isn't set. This is to allow
+  # users to provide these pillar values using the regular salt's mechanisms
+  # during cluster bootstrap.
+  if [[ "${FEDERATION:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP="${FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP:-}"
+    if [[ -z "${FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP}" && -n "${FEDERATION_NAME:-}" && -n "${DNS_ZONE_NAME:-}" ]]; then
+      FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP="${FEDERATION_NAME}=${DNS_ZONE_NAME}"
+    fi
+    if [[ -n "${FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP}" ]]; then
+      sed -i 's/{{ pillar\['"'"'federations_domain_map'"'"'\] }}/- --federations="'"${FEDERATIONS_DOMAIN_MAP}"'"/g' "${dst_dir}/dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in"
+    else
+      sed -i '/{{ pillar\['"'"'federations_domain_map'"'"'\] }}/d' "${dst_dir}/dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in"
+    fi
+  else
+    sed -i '/{{ pillar\['"'"'federations_domain_map'"'"'\] }}/d' "${dst_dir}/dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in"
+  fi
+
   # This is for coreos only. ContainerVM, GCI, or Trusty does not use it.
   cp -r "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/coreos/kube-manifests"/* "${release_stage}/"
 
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.base b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.base
index 59b9debc189..fb1903e723e 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.base
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.base
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ spec:
         # command = "/kube-dns"
         - --domain=__PILLAR__DNS__DOMAIN__.
         - --dns-port=10053
+        __PILLAR__FEDERATIONS__DOMAIN__MAP__
         ports:
         - containerPort: 10053
           name: dns-local
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in
index 5411979b94d..0931c862889 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/skydns-rc.yaml.in
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ spec:
         # command = "/kube-dns"
         - --domain={{ pillar['dns_domain'] }}.
         - --dns-port=10053
+        {{ pillar['federations_domain_map'] }}
         ports:
         - containerPort: 10053
           name: dns-local
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2salt.sed b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2salt.sed
index 051f40a2a4b..4ce2e4988f0 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2salt.sed
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2salt.sed
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__SERVER__/{{ pillar['dns_server'] }}/g
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__REPLICAS__/{{ pillar['dns_replicas'] }}/g
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__DOMAIN__/{{ pillar['dns_domain'] }}/g
+s/__PILLAR__FEDERATIONS__DOMAIN__MAP__/{{ pillar['federations_domain_map'] }}/g
 s/__MACHINE_GENERATED_WARNING__/Warning: This is a file generated from the base underscore template file: __SOURCE_FILENAME__/g
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2sed.sed b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2sed.sed
index 612e467a958..2138854dfe7 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2sed.sed
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-dns/transforms2sed.sed
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__SERVER__/$DNS_SERVER_IP/g
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__REPLICAS__/$DNS_REPLICAS/g
 s/__PILLAR__DNS__DOMAIN__/$DNS_DOMAIN/g
+/__PILLAR__FEDERATIONS__DOMAIN__MAP__/d
 s/__MACHINE_GENERATED_WARNING__/Warning: This is a file generated from the base underscore template file: __SOURCE_FILENAME__/g
\ No newline at end of file