diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
index 197ea246464..c2325b789db 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
@@ -136,9 +136,16 @@ func (r *Reset) Run(out io.Writer) error {
 		fmt.Printf("failed to unmount directories in /var/lib/kubelet, %s", string(umountOutputBytes))
 	}
 
+	dirsToClean := []string{"/var/lib/kubelet"}
+
+	// Only clear etcd data when the etcd manifest is found. In case it is not found, we must assume that the user
+	// provided external etcd endpoints. In that case, it is his own responsibility to reset etcd
+	if _, err := os.Stat("/etc/kubernetes/manifests/etcd.json"); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		dirsToClean = append(dirsToClean, "/var/lib/etcd")
+	}
+
 	resetConfigDir("/etc/kubernetes/")
 
-	dirsToClean := []string{"/var/lib/kubelet", "/var/lib/etcd"}
 	fmt.Printf("Deleting contents of stateful directories: %v\n", dirsToClean)
 	for _, dir := range dirsToClean {
 		cleanDir(dir)
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
index b8142ace558..803315478da 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
@@ -240,7 +240,6 @@ func RunInitMasterChecks(cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration) error {
 		ServiceCheck{Service: "kubelet"},
 		ServiceCheck{Service: "docker"},
 		PortOpenCheck{port: int(cfg.API.BindPort)},
-		PortOpenCheck{port: 2379},
 		PortOpenCheck{port: 8080},
 		PortOpenCheck{port: int(cfg.Discovery.BindPort)},
 		PortOpenCheck{port: 10250},
@@ -249,7 +248,6 @@ func RunInitMasterChecks(cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration) error {
 		HttpProxyCheck{Proto: "https", Host: cfg.API.AdvertiseAddresses[0], Port: int(cfg.API.BindPort)},
 		DirAvailableCheck{Path: "/etc/kubernetes/manifests"},
 		DirAvailableCheck{Path: "/etc/kubernetes/pki"},
-		DirAvailableCheck{Path: "/var/lib/etcd"},
 		DirAvailableCheck{Path: "/var/lib/kubelet"},
 		FileAvailableCheck{Path: "/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf"},
 		FileAvailableCheck{Path: "/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf"},
@@ -264,6 +262,14 @@ func RunInitMasterChecks(cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration) error {
 		InPathCheck{executable: "touch", mandatory: false},
 	}
 
+	if len(cfg.Etcd.Endpoints) == 0 {
+		// Only do etcd related checks when no external endpoints were specified
+		checks = append(checks,
+			PortOpenCheck{port: 2379},
+			DirAvailableCheck{Path: "/var/lib/etcd"},
+		)
+	}
+
 	return runChecks(checks, os.Stderr)
 }