diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure.go
index 5c546b491d4..d37a7b2e45b 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure.go
@@ -160,6 +160,11 @@ func NewCloud(configReader io.Reader) (cloudprovider.Interface, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if config.VMType == "" {
+		// default to standard vmType if not set.
+		config.VMType = vmTypeStandard
+	}
+
 	env, err := auth.ParseAzureEnvironment(config.Cloud)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure_test.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure_test.go
index 753b67d65cd..11801f42255 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/azure/azure_test.go
@@ -864,6 +864,7 @@ func getTestCloud() (az *Cloud) {
 			RouteTableName:               "rt",
 			PrimaryAvailabilitySetName:   "as",
 			MaximumLoadBalancerRuleCount: 250,
+			VMType: vmTypeStandard,
 		},
 	}
 	az.DisksClient = newFakeDisksClient()