diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/constant.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/constant.go
index b9154826d56..09a521af8da 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/constant.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/constant.go
@@ -145,4 +145,7 @@ const (
 
 	// Kustomize flag sets the folder where kustomize patches for static pod manifest are stored
 	Kustomize = "experimental-kustomize"
+
+	// Patches flag sets the folder where kubeadm component patches are stored
+	Patches = "experimental-patches"
 )
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
index 717403a1935..2f52fec618c 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package options
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -92,4 +93,5 @@ func AddKubeadmOtherFlags(flagSet *pflag.FlagSet, rootfsPath *string) {
 // AddKustomizePodsFlag adds the --kustomize flag to the given flagset
 func AddKustomizePodsFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet, kustomizeDir *string) {
 	fs.StringVarP(kustomizeDir, Kustomize, "k", *kustomizeDir, "The path where kustomize patches for static pod manifests are stored.")
+	fs.MarkDeprecated(Kustomize, fmt.Sprintf("This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Please use %s instead.", Patches))
 }