diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
index 9e216d901a0..6c93720085d 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ var (
 	// MinimumCSRAutoApprovalClusterRolesVersion defines whether kubeadm can rely on the built-in CSR approval ClusterRole or not (note, the binding is always created by kubeadm!)
 	// TODO: Remove this when the v1.9 cycle starts and we bump the minimum supported version to v1.8.0
 	MinimumCSRAutoApprovalClusterRolesVersion = version.MustParseSemantic("v1.8.0-alpha.3")
+
+	// UseEnableBootstrapTokenAuthFlagVersion defines the first version where the API server supports the --enable-bootstrap-token-auth flag instead of the old and deprecated flag.
+	// TODO: Remove this when the v1.9 cycle starts and we bump the minimum supported version to v1.8.0
+	UseEnableBootstrapTokenAuthFlagVersion = version.MustParseSemantic("v1.8.0-beta.0")
 )
 
 // GetStaticPodDirectory returns the location on the disk where the Static Pod should be present
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests.go
index 2aed9425716..19a4a5de55a 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests.go
@@ -136,20 +136,19 @@ func createStaticPodFiles(manifestDir string, cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguratio
 // getAPIServerCommand builds the right API server command from the given config object and version
 func getAPIServerCommand(cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration, k8sVersion *version.Version) []string {
 	defaultArguments := map[string]string{
-		"advertise-address":                 cfg.API.AdvertiseAddress,
-		"insecure-port":                     "0",
-		"admission-control":                 defaultv17AdmissionControl,
-		"service-cluster-ip-range":          cfg.Networking.ServiceSubnet,
-		"service-account-key-file":          filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.ServiceAccountPublicKeyName),
-		"client-ca-file":                    filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.CACertName),
-		"tls-cert-file":                     filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerCertName),
-		"tls-private-key-file":              filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKeyName),
-		"kubelet-client-certificate":        filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKubeletClientCertName),
-		"kubelet-client-key":                filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKubeletClientKeyName),
-		"secure-port":                       fmt.Sprintf("%d", cfg.API.BindPort),
-		"allow-privileged":                  "true",
-		"experimental-bootstrap-token-auth": "true",
-		"kubelet-preferred-address-types":   "InternalIP,ExternalIP,Hostname",
+		"advertise-address":               cfg.API.AdvertiseAddress,
+		"insecure-port":                   "0",
+		"admission-control":               defaultv17AdmissionControl,
+		"service-cluster-ip-range":        cfg.Networking.ServiceSubnet,
+		"service-account-key-file":        filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.ServiceAccountPublicKeyName),
+		"client-ca-file":                  filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.CACertName),
+		"tls-cert-file":                   filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerCertName),
+		"tls-private-key-file":            filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKeyName),
+		"kubelet-client-certificate":      filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKubeletClientCertName),
+		"kubelet-client-key":              filepath.Join(cfg.CertificatesDir, kubeadmconstants.APIServerKubeletClientKeyName),
+		"secure-port":                     fmt.Sprintf("%d", cfg.API.BindPort),
+		"allow-privileged":                "true",
+		"kubelet-preferred-address-types": "InternalIP,ExternalIP,Hostname",
 		// add options to configure the front proxy.  Without the generated client cert, this will never be useable
 		// so add it unconditionally with recommended values
 		"requestheader-username-headers":     "X-Remote-User",
@@ -162,6 +161,14 @@ func getAPIServerCommand(cfg *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration, k8sVersion *versio
 	}
 
 	command := []string{"kube-apiserver"}
+
+	// Note: Mutating defaultArguments dynamically must happen before the BuildArgumentListFromMap call below
+	if k8sVersion.AtLeast(kubeadmconstants.UseEnableBootstrapTokenAuthFlagVersion) {
+		defaultArguments["enable-bootstrap-token-auth"] = "true"
+	} else {
+		defaultArguments["experimental-bootstrap-token-auth"] = "true"
+	}
+
 	command = append(command, kubeadmutil.BuildArgumentListFromMap(defaultArguments, cfg.APIServerExtraArgs)...)
 	command = append(command, getAuthzParameters(cfg.AuthorizationModes)...)
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests_test.go
index 23dcc03bf80..488e5a4df12 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/controlplane/manifests_test.go
@@ -171,6 +171,40 @@ func TestGetAPIServerCommand(t *testing.T) {
 				"--etcd-servers=http://127.0.0.1:2379",
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			cfg: &kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration{
+				API:               kubeadmapi.API{BindPort: 123, AdvertiseAddress: "1.2.3.4"},
+				Networking:        kubeadmapi.Networking{ServiceSubnet: "bar"},
+				CertificatesDir:   testCertsDir,
+				KubernetesVersion: "v1.8.0-beta.0",
+			},
+			expected: []string{
+				"kube-apiserver",
+				"--insecure-port=0",
+				"--admission-control=Initializers,NamespaceLifecycle,LimitRanger,ServiceAccount,PersistentVolumeLabel,DefaultStorageClass,DefaultTolerationSeconds,NodeRestriction,ResourceQuota",
+				"--service-cluster-ip-range=bar",
+				"--service-account-key-file=" + testCertsDir + "/sa.pub",
+				"--client-ca-file=" + testCertsDir + "/ca.crt",
+				"--tls-cert-file=" + testCertsDir + "/apiserver.crt",
+				"--tls-private-key-file=" + testCertsDir + "/apiserver.key",
+				"--kubelet-client-certificate=" + testCertsDir + "/apiserver-kubelet-client.crt",
+				"--kubelet-client-key=" + testCertsDir + "/apiserver-kubelet-client.key",
+				"--secure-port=123",
+				"--allow-privileged=true",
+				"--kubelet-preferred-address-types=InternalIP,ExternalIP,Hostname",
+				"--enable-bootstrap-token-auth=true",
+				"--proxy-client-cert-file=/var/lib/certs/front-proxy-client.crt",
+				"--proxy-client-key-file=/var/lib/certs/front-proxy-client.key",
+				"--requestheader-username-headers=X-Remote-User",
+				"--requestheader-group-headers=X-Remote-Group",
+				"--requestheader-extra-headers-prefix=X-Remote-Extra-",
+				"--requestheader-client-ca-file=" + testCertsDir + "/front-proxy-ca.crt",
+				"--requestheader-allowed-names=front-proxy-client",
+				"--authorization-mode=Node,RBAC",
+				"--advertise-address=1.2.3.4",
+				"--etcd-servers=http://127.0.0.1:2379",
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			cfg: &kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration{
 				API:               kubeadmapi.API{BindPort: 123, AdvertiseAddress: "4.3.2.1"},