diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
index a08e45f615e..c5eb38e2a1e 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ import (
 	kubeletclient "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/client"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/master/ports"
 	etcdstorage "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/storage/etcd"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/config"
 	utilnet "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/net"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ type APIServer struct {
 	OIDCIssuerURL              string
 	OIDCUsernameClaim          string
 	OIDCGroupsClaim            string
-	RuntimeConfig              util.ConfigurationMap
+	RuntimeConfig              config.ConfigurationMap
 	SSHKeyfile                 string
 	SSHUser                    string
 	ServiceAccountKeyFile      string
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func NewAPIServer() *APIServer {
 		EventTTL:               1 * time.Hour,
 		MasterCount:            1,
 		MasterServiceNamespace: api.NamespaceDefault,
-		RuntimeConfig:          make(util.ConfigurationMap),
+		RuntimeConfig:          make(config.ConfigurationMap),
 		StorageVersions:        registered.AllPreferredGroupVersions(),
 		DefaultStorageVersions: registered.AllPreferredGroupVersions(),
 		KubeletConfig: kubeletclient.KubeletClientConfig{
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
index e58706f7349..81bc772bc83 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	kubetypes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/master/ports"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/config"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ type KubeletServer struct {
 	ChaosChance float64
 	// Crash immediately, rather than eating panics.
 	ReallyCrashForTesting bool
-	SystemReserved        util.ConfigurationMap
-	KubeReserved          util.ConfigurationMap
+	SystemReserved        config.ConfigurationMap
+	KubeReserved          config.ConfigurationMap
 }
 
 // NewKubeletServer will create a new KubeletServer with default values.
@@ -62,8 +63,8 @@ func NewKubeletServer() *KubeletServer {
 		AuthPath:   util.NewStringFlag("/var/lib/kubelet/kubernetes_auth"), // deprecated
 		KubeConfig: util.NewStringFlag("/var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig"),
 
-		SystemReserved: make(util.ConfigurationMap),
-		KubeReserved:   make(util.ConfigurationMap),
+		SystemReserved: make(config.ConfigurationMap),
+		KubeReserved:   make(config.ConfigurationMap),
 		KubeletConfiguration: componentconfig.KubeletConfiguration{
 			Address:                     "0.0.0.0",
 			CAdvisorPort:                4194,
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ func (s *KubeletServer) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.StringVar(&s.ClusterDNS, "cluster-dns", s.ClusterDNS, "IP address for a cluster DNS server.  If set, kubelet will configure all containers to use this for DNS resolution in addition to the host's DNS servers")
 	fs.DurationVar(&s.StreamingConnectionIdleTimeout.Duration, "streaming-connection-idle-timeout", s.StreamingConnectionIdleTimeout.Duration, "Maximum time a streaming connection can be idle before the connection is automatically closed. 0 indicates no timeout. Example: '5m'")
 	fs.DurationVar(&s.NodeStatusUpdateFrequency.Duration, "node-status-update-frequency", s.NodeStatusUpdateFrequency.Duration, "Specifies how often kubelet posts node status to master. Note: be cautious when changing the constant, it must work with nodeMonitorGracePeriod in nodecontroller. Default: 10s")
-	bindableNodeLabels := util.ConfigurationMap(s.NodeLabels)
+	bindableNodeLabels := config.ConfigurationMap(s.NodeLabels)
 	fs.Var(&bindableNodeLabels, "node-labels", "<Warning: Alpha feature> Labels to add when registering the node in the cluster.  Labels must be key=value pairs separated by ','.")
 	fs.DurationVar(&s.ImageMinimumGCAge.Duration, "minimum-image-ttl-duration", s.ImageMinimumGCAge.Duration, "Minimum age for a unused image before it is garbage collected.  Examples: '300ms', '10s' or '2h45m'. Default: '2m'")
 	fs.IntVar(&s.ImageGCHighThresholdPercent, "image-gc-high-threshold", s.ImageGCHighThresholdPercent, "The percent of disk usage after which image garbage collection is always run. Default: 90%")
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 80ae438fa85..3cde955ac1d 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/server"
 	kubetypes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	utilconfig "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/config"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/configz"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/crypto"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/flock"
@@ -876,7 +877,7 @@ func CreateAndInitKubelet(kc *KubeletConfig) (k KubeletBootstrap, pc *config.Pod
 	return k, pc, nil
 }
 
-func parseReservation(kubeReserved, systemReserved util.ConfigurationMap) (*kubetypes.Reservation, error) {
+func parseReservation(kubeReserved, systemReserved utilconfig.ConfigurationMap) (*kubetypes.Reservation, error) {
 	reservation := new(kubetypes.Reservation)
 	if rl, err := parseResourceList(kubeReserved); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -891,7 +892,7 @@ func parseReservation(kubeReserved, systemReserved util.ConfigurationMap) (*kube
 	return reservation, nil
 }
 
-func parseResourceList(m util.ConfigurationMap) (api.ResourceList, error) {
+func parseResourceList(m utilconfig.ConfigurationMap) (api.ResourceList, error) {
 	rl := make(api.ResourceList)
 	for k, v := range m {
 		switch api.ResourceName(k) {
diff --git a/contrib/completions/bash/kubectl b/contrib/completions/bash/kubectl
index b7d5a20429c..772ac4f8367 100644
--- a/contrib/completions/bash/kubectl
+++ b/contrib/completions/bash/kubectl
@@ -2195,7 +2195,7 @@ _kubectl_config_view()
     flags_completion=()
 
     flags+=("--flatten")
-    flags+=("--merge")
+    flags+=("--merge=")
     flags+=("--minify")
     flags+=("--no-headers")
     flags+=("--output=")
@@ -2249,8 +2249,8 @@ _kubectl_config_set-cluster()
 
     flags+=("--api-version=")
     flags+=("--certificate-authority=")
-    flags+=("--embed-certs")
-    flags+=("--insecure-skip-tls-verify")
+    flags+=("--embed-certs=")
+    flags+=("--insecure-skip-tls-verify=")
     flags+=("--server=")
     flags+=("--alsologtostderr")
     flags+=("--client-certificate=")
@@ -2288,7 +2288,7 @@ _kubectl_config_set-credentials()
 
     flags+=("--client-certificate=")
     flags+=("--client-key=")
-    flags+=("--embed-certs")
+    flags+=("--embed-certs=")
     flags+=("--password=")
     flags+=("--token=")
     flags+=("--username=")
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_authinfo.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_authinfo.go
index 0f8aa3b6fff..aeabd106d32 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_authinfo.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_authinfo.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd"
 	clientcmdapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/flag"
 )
 
 type createAuthInfoOptions struct {
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ type createAuthInfoOptions struct {
 	token             util.StringFlag
 	username          util.StringFlag
 	password          util.StringFlag
-	embedCertData     util.BoolFlag
+	embedCertData     flag.Tristate
 }
 
 var create_authinfo_long = fmt.Sprintf(`Sets a user entry in kubeconfig
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_cluster.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_cluster.go
index 79edfd0cf37..b3e08414e30 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/create_cluster.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd"
 	clientcmdapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/flag"
 )
 
 type createClusterOptions struct {
@@ -35,9 +36,9 @@ type createClusterOptions struct {
 	name                  string
 	server                util.StringFlag
 	apiVersion            util.StringFlag
-	insecureSkipTLSVerify util.BoolFlag
+	insecureSkipTLSVerify flag.Tristate
 	certificateAuthority  util.StringFlag
-	embedCAData           util.BoolFlag
+	embedCAData           flag.Tristate
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/view.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/view.go
index 5d253a118fa..bcdf91788f4 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/view.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/config/view.go
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/api/latest"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/flag"
 )
 
 type ViewOptions struct {
 	ConfigAccess ConfigAccess
-	Merge        util.BoolFlag
+	Merge        flag.Tristate
 	Flatten      bool
 	Minify       bool
 	RawByteData  bool
diff --git a/pkg/storage/etcd/etcd_helper.go b/pkg/storage/etcd/etcd_helper.go
index 896baf63f74..469b2ed88f1 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/etcd/etcd_helper.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/etcd/etcd_helper.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/storage/etcd/metrics"
 	etcdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/storage/etcd/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	utilcache "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/cache"
 	utilnet "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/net"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/watch"
 
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ func NewEtcdStorage(client etcd.Client, codec runtime.Codec, prefix string, quor
 		copier:         api.Scheme,
 		pathPrefix:     path.Join("/", prefix),
 		quorum:         quorum,
-		cache:          util.NewCache(maxEtcdCacheEntries),
+		cache:          utilcache.NewCache(maxEtcdCacheEntries),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ type etcdHelper struct {
 	// support multi-object transaction that will result in many objects with the same index.
 	// Number of entries stored in the cache is controlled by maxEtcdCacheEntries constant.
 	// TODO: Measure how much this cache helps after the conversion code is optimized.
-	cache util.Cache
+	cache utilcache.Cache
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/util/bool_flag.go b/pkg/util/bool_flag.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 768fc30350b..00000000000
--- a/pkg/util/bool_flag.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2014 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package util
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"strconv"
-)
-
-// BoolFlag is a boolean flag compatible with flags and pflags that keeps track of whether it had a value supplied or not.
-// Getting this flag to act like a normal bool, where true/false are not required needs a little bit of extra code, example:
-//    f := cmd.Flags().VarPF(&BoolFlagVar, "flagname", "", "help about the flag")
-//    f.NoOptDefVal = "true"
-type BoolFlag struct {
-	// If Set has been invoked this value is true
-	provided bool
-	// The exact value provided on the flag
-	value bool
-}
-
-func (f *BoolFlag) Default(value bool) {
-	f.value = value
-}
-
-func (f BoolFlag) String() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%t", f.value)
-}
-
-func (f BoolFlag) Value() bool {
-	return f.value
-}
-
-func (f *BoolFlag) Set(value string) error {
-	boolVal, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	f.value = boolVal
-	f.provided = true
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (f BoolFlag) Provided() bool {
-	return f.provided
-}
-
-func (f *BoolFlag) Type() string {
-	return "bool"
-}
diff --git a/pkg/util/cache.go b/pkg/util/cache/cache.go
similarity index 99%
rename from pkg/util/cache.go
rename to pkg/util/cache/cache.go
index 47e30ca31d0..1d4cb923cec 100644
--- a/pkg/util/cache.go
+++ b/pkg/util/cache/cache.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package util
+package cache
 
 import (
 	"sync"
diff --git a/pkg/util/cache_test.go b/pkg/util/cache/cache_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from pkg/util/cache_test.go
rename to pkg/util/cache/cache_test.go
index a54f9e60981..8a86a72a503 100644
--- a/pkg/util/cache_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/cache/cache_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package util
+package cache
 
 import (
 	"testing"
diff --git a/pkg/util/configuration_map.go b/pkg/util/config/configuration_map.go
similarity index 98%
rename from pkg/util/configuration_map.go
rename to pkg/util/config/configuration_map.go
index cf2b326a908..e7ad4fadb3d 100644
--- a/pkg/util/configuration_map.go
+++ b/pkg/util/config/configuration_map.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
-package util
+package config
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
diff --git a/pkg/util/flag/tristate.go b/pkg/util/flag/tristate.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a9359695f5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/flag/tristate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package flag
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+)
+
+// Tristate is a flag compatible with flags and pflags that
+// keeps track of whether it had a value supplied or not.
+type Tristate int
+
+const (
+	Unset Tristate = iota // 0
+	True
+	False
+)
+
+func (f *Tristate) Default(value bool) {
+	*f = triFromBool(value)
+}
+
+func (f Tristate) String() string {
+	b := boolFromTri(f)
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%t", b)
+}
+
+func (f Tristate) Value() bool {
+	b := boolFromTri(f)
+	return b
+}
+
+func (f *Tristate) Set(value string) error {
+	boolVal, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	*f = triFromBool(boolVal)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f Tristate) Provided() bool {
+	if f != Unset {
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func (f *Tristate) Type() string {
+	return "tristate"
+}
+
+func boolFromTri(t Tristate) bool {
+	if t == True {
+		return true
+	} else {
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+func triFromBool(b bool) Tristate {
+	if b {
+		return True
+	} else {
+		return False
+	}
+}