diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index ef639727537..481eb6b5b9d 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -2687,6 +2687,15 @@ oom_score = -999
   endpoint = ["https://mirror.gcr.io","https://registry-1.docker.io"]
 EOF
 
+  if [[ "${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_TEST_HANDLER:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+  cat >> "${config_path}" <<EOF
+# Setup a runtime with the magic name ("test-handler") used for Kubernetes
+# runtime class tests ...
+[plugins.cri.containerd.runtimes.test-handler]
+  runtime_type = "io.containerd.runtime.v1.linux"
+EOF
+  fi
+
   # Reuse docker group for containerd.
   local containerd_gid="$(cat /etc/group | grep ^docker: | cut -d: -f 3)"
   if [[ ! -z "${containerd_gid:-}" ]]; then
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 43654795046..382cc653db1 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -1224,6 +1224,7 @@ DISABLE_PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_IN_DS: $(yaml-quote ${DISABLE_PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_IN_DS:-f
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME: $(yaml-quote ${CONTAINER_RUNTIME:-})
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT: $(yaml-quote ${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT:-})
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME_NAME: $(yaml-quote ${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_NAME:-})
+CONTAINER_RUNTIME_TEST_HANDLER: $(yaml-quote ${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_TEST_HANDLER:-})
 UBUNTU_INSTALL_CONTAINERD_VERSION: $(yaml-quote ${UBUNTU_INSTALL_CONTAINERD_VERSION:-})
 UBUNTU_INSTALL_RUNC_VERSION: $(yaml-quote ${UBUNTU_INSTALL_RUNC_VERSION:-})
 NODE_LOCAL_SSDS_EXT: $(yaml-quote ${NODE_LOCAL_SSDS_EXT:-})