diff --git a/cmd/e2e/e2e.go b/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
index 915531c2e1f..b6afc16a2b4 100644
--- a/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
+++ b/cmd/e2e/e2e.go
@@ -700,8 +700,7 @@ func TestPodHasServiceEnvVars(c *client.Client) bool {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	goruntime.GOMAXPROCS(goruntime.NumCPU())
 	util.ReallyCrash = true
 	util.InitLogs()
diff --git a/cmd/integration/integration.go b/cmd/integration/integration.go
index 0cfe8c6d2a9..90fe295aab3 100644
--- a/cmd/integration/integration.go
+++ b/cmd/integration/integration.go
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/coreos/go-etcd/etcd"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
-	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -563,8 +562,7 @@ func runServiceTest(client *client.Client) {
 type testFunc func(*client.Client)
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	runtime.GOMAXPROCS(runtime.NumCPU())
 	util.ReallyCrash = true
 	util.InitLogs()
diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
index 1a74b8a351c..6d62e139935 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -124,8 +124,7 @@ func newEtcd(etcdConfigFile string, etcdServerList util.StringList) (helper tool
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()
 
diff --git a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/controller-manager.go b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/controller-manager.go
index 7687160e199..97299a0189c 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/controller-manager.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/controller-manager.go
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ func verifyMinionFlags() {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()
 
diff --git a/cmd/kube-proxy/proxy.go b/cmd/kube-proxy/proxy.go
index d26150b7ab8..b2a42b44b58 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-proxy/proxy.go
@@ -53,8 +53,7 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
index a1b4ab5f0b6..722e2a28e19 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -90,8 +90,7 @@ func setupRunOnce() {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()
 	rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
diff --git a/cmd/kubernetes/kubernetes.go b/cmd/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
index 80208723fdf..a822ea7457b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
+++ b/cmd/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
@@ -66,8 +66,7 @@ func newApiClient(addr string, port int) *client.Client {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()
 
diff --git a/pkg/util/flags.go b/pkg/util/flags.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..80687267f92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/flags.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 Google Inc. 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 (
+	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
+)
+
+// InitFlags normalizes and parses the command line flags
+func InitFlags() {
+	AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
+	flag.Parse()
+}
diff --git a/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go b/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go
index 8322e4fe480..5231ea2d5bf 100644
--- a/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go
+++ b/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ func (v *versionValue) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%v", bool(*v == VersionTrue))
 }
 
+// The type of the flag as requred by the pflag.Value interface
 func (v *versionValue) Type() string {
 	return "version"
 }
diff --git a/plugin/cmd/kube-scheduler/scheduler.go b/plugin/cmd/kube-scheduler/scheduler.go
index 8bd7a6d2e70..895628612d6 100644
--- a/plugin/cmd/kube-scheduler/scheduler.go
+++ b/plugin/cmd/kube-scheduler/scheduler.go
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	util.InitFlags()
 	util.InitLogs()
 	defer util.FlushLogs()