diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index b755d4e5bfc..fd4aa687e3b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -1120,7 +1120,7 @@ func RunKubelet(kubeServer *options.KubeletServer, kubeDeps *kubelet.Dependencie
 	// Setup event recorder if required.
 	makeEventRecorder(kubeDeps, nodeName)
 
-	nodeIPs, err := nodeutil.ParseNodeIPArgument(kubeServer.NodeIP, kubeServer.CloudProvider)
+	nodeIPs, err := nodeutil.ParseNodeIPArgument(kubeServer.NodeIP, kubeServer.CloudProvider, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("bad --node-ip %q: %v", kubeServer.NodeIP, err)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips.go
index d0edd8c0532..60d3097cc88 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips.go
@@ -63,10 +63,14 @@ func parseNodeIP(nodeIP string, allowDual, sloppy bool) ([]net.IP, error) {
 }
 
 // ParseNodeIPArgument parses kubelet's --node-ip argument. If nodeIP contains invalid
-// values, they will be logged and ignored. Dual-stack node IPs are only supported if
-// cloudProvider is unset.
-func ParseNodeIPArgument(nodeIP, cloudProvider string) ([]net.IP, error) {
-	return parseNodeIP(nodeIP, cloudProvider == cloudProviderNone, true)
+// values, they will be logged and ignored. Dual-stack node IPs are allowed if
+// cloudProvider is unset, or if it is `"external"` and allowCloudDualStack is true.
+func ParseNodeIPArgument(nodeIP, cloudProvider string, allowCloudDualStack bool) ([]net.IP, error) {
+	var allowDualStack bool
+	if (cloudProvider == cloudProviderNone) || (cloudProvider == cloudProviderExternal && allowCloudDualStack) {
+		allowDualStack = true
+	}
+	return parseNodeIP(nodeIP, allowDualStack, true)
 }
 
 // ParseNodeIPAnnotation parses the `alpha.kubernetes.io/provided-node-ip` annotation,
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips_test.go
index 250aae91c59..8afb03f5cf2 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-helpers/node/util/ips_test.go
@@ -164,17 +164,29 @@ func TestParseNodeIPArgument(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
+	configurations := []struct {
+		cloudProvider       string
+		allowCloudDualStack bool
+		dualStackSupported  bool
+	}{
+		{cloudProviderNone, false, true},
+		{cloudProviderNone, true, true},
+		{cloudProviderExternal, false, false},
+		{cloudProviderExternal, true, true},
+		{"gce", false, false},
+		{"gce", true, false},
+	}
+
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
-		for _, cloudProvider := range []string{cloudProviderNone, cloudProviderExternal, "gce"} {
-			desc := fmt.Sprintf("%s, cloudProvider=%q", tc.desc, cloudProvider)
+		for _, conf := range configurations {
+			desc := fmt.Sprintf("%s, cloudProvider=%q, allowCloudDualStack=%v", tc.desc, conf.cloudProvider, conf.allowCloudDualStack)
 			t.Run(desc, func(t *testing.T) {
-				parsed, err := ParseNodeIPArgument(tc.in, cloudProvider)
+				parsed, err := ParseNodeIPArgument(tc.in, conf.cloudProvider, conf.allowCloudDualStack)
 
 				expectedOut := tc.out
 				expectedErr := tc.err
 
-				// Dual-stack is only supported with no cloudProvider
-				if cloudProvider != "" {
+				if !conf.dualStackSupported {
 					if len(tc.out) == 2 {
 						expectedOut = nil
 					}