diff --git a/cluster/addons/kube-proxy/kube-proxy-ds.yaml b/cluster/addons/kube-proxy/kube-proxy-ds.yaml
index 2134e875fba..d11765bb076 100644
--- a/cluster/addons/kube-proxy/kube-proxy-ds.yaml
+++ b/cluster/addons/kube-proxy/kube-proxy-ds.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ spec:
       annotations:
         scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod: ''
     spec:
-      {{pod_priority}}
+      priorityClassName: system-node-critical
       hostNetwork: true
       nodeSelector:
         beta.kubernetes.io/kube-proxy-ds-ready: "true"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 0403dc7079e..ad28727ee4b 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -1261,10 +1261,6 @@ function prepare-kube-proxy-manifest-variables {
     kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_name="- name: KUBE_CACHE_MUTATION_DETECTOR"
     kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_value="value: \"${ENABLE_CACHE_MUTATION_DETECTOR}\""
   fi
-  local pod_priority=""
-  if [[ "${ENABLE_POD_PRIORITY:-}" == "true" ]]; then
-    pod_priority="priorityClassName: system-node-critical"
-  fi
   sed -i -e "s@{{kubeconfig}}@${kubeconfig}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{pillar\['kube_docker_registry'\]}}@${kube_docker_registry}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{pillar\['kube-proxy_docker_tag'\]}}@${kube_proxy_docker_tag}@g" ${src_file}
@@ -1272,7 +1268,6 @@ function prepare-kube-proxy-manifest-variables {
   sed -i -e "s@{{container_env}}@${container_env}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_name}}@${kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_name}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_value}}@${kube_cache_mutation_detector_env_value}@g" ${src_file}
-  sed -i -e "s@{{pod_priority}}@${pod_priority}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{ cpurequest }}@100m@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{api_servers_with_port}}@${api_servers}@g" ${src_file}
   sed -i -e "s@{{kubernetes_service_host_env_value}}@${KUBERNETES_MASTER_NAME}@g" ${src_file}
diff --git a/cluster/gce/manifests/kube-proxy.manifest b/cluster/gce/manifests/kube-proxy.manifest
index fe4dd6c61c7..334150f6821 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/manifests/kube-proxy.manifest
+++ b/cluster/gce/manifests/kube-proxy.manifest
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ metadata:
     tier: node
     component: kube-proxy
 spec:
-  {{pod_priority}}
+  priorityClassName: system-node-critical
   hostNetwork: true
   tolerations:
   - operator: "Exists"