diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils.go
index 57b1b01377a..e4ecb7cd16a 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils.go
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ func ComponentPod(container v1.Container, volumes map[string]v1.Volume) v1.Pod {
 			Labels: map[string]string{"component": container.Name, "tier": "control-plane"},
 		},
 		Spec: v1.PodSpec{
-			Containers:  []v1.Container{container},
-			HostNetwork: true,
-			Volumes:     VolumeMapToSlice(volumes),
+			Containers:        []v1.Container{container},
+			PriorityClassName: "system-cluster-critical",
+			HostNetwork:       true,
+			Volumes:           VolumeMapToSlice(volumes),
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils_test.go
index 7d9bd315b0c..834e1f5a0c6 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/staticpod/utils_test.go
@@ -286,8 +286,9 @@ func TestComponentPod(t *testing.T) {
 							Name: "foo",
 						},
 					},
-					HostNetwork: true,
-					Volumes:     []v1.Volume{},
+					PriorityClassName: "system-cluster-critical",
+					HostNetwork:       true,
+					Volumes:           []v1.Volume{},
 				},
 			},
 		},