diff --git a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_others.go b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_others.go
index dbf0b13b5b4..87e3ea3866c 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_others.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_others.go
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ func newProxyServer(
 		OOMScoreAdj:            config.OOMScoreAdj,
 		ConfigSyncPeriod:       config.ConfigSyncPeriod.Duration,
 		HealthzServer:          healthzServer,
-		UseEndpointSlices:      utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice),
+		UseEndpointSlices:      utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying),
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index 9dbfb403451..30d4511f7b1 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -487,6 +487,12 @@ const (
 	// Enable Endpoint Slices for more scalable Service endpoints.
 	EndpointSlice featuregate.Feature = "EndpointSlice"
 
+	// owner: @robscott @freehan
+	// alpha: v1.18
+	//
+	// Enable Endpoint Slice consumption by kube-proxy for improved scalability.
+	EndpointSliceProxying featuregate.Feature = "EndpointSliceProxying"
+
 	// owner: @Huang-Wei
 	// alpha: v1.16
 	//
@@ -594,7 +600,8 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	VolumePVCDataSource:                            {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	PodOverhead:                                    {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	IPv6DualStack:                                  {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
-	EndpointSlice:                                  {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
+	EndpointSlice:                                  {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
+	EndpointSliceProxying:                          {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	EvenPodsSpread:                                 {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	StartupProbe:                                   {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	AllowInsecureBackendProxy:                      {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
diff --git a/pkg/proxy/iptables/proxier.go b/pkg/proxy/iptables/proxier.go
index 4d64c17d06c..3d6ac101e5c 100644
--- a/pkg/proxy/iptables/proxier.go
+++ b/pkg/proxy/iptables/proxier.go
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ func NewProxier(ipt utiliptables.Interface,
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("clusterCIDR %s has incorrect IP version: expect isIPv6=%t", clusterCIDR, ipt.IsIpv6())
 	}
 
-	endpointSlicesEnabled := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice)
+	endpointSlicesEnabled := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying)
 
 	serviceHealthServer := healthcheck.NewServiceHealthServer(hostname, recorder)
 
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ func (proxier *Proxier) OnServiceDelete(service *v1.Service) {
 func (proxier *Proxier) OnServiceSynced() {
 	proxier.mu.Lock()
 	proxier.servicesSynced = true
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice) {
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying) {
 		proxier.setInitialized(proxier.endpointSlicesSynced)
 	} else {
 		proxier.setInitialized(proxier.endpointsSynced)
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ func (proxier *Proxier) syncProxyRules() {
 		// 2. ServiceTopology is not enabled.
 		// 3. EndpointSlice is not enabled (service topology depends on endpoint slice
 		// to get topology information).
-		if !svcInfo.OnlyNodeLocalEndpoints() && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.ServiceTopology) && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice) {
+		if !svcInfo.OnlyNodeLocalEndpoints() && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.ServiceTopology) && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying) {
 			allEndpoints = proxy.FilterTopologyEndpoint(proxier.nodeLabels, svcInfo.TopologyKeys(), allEndpoints)
 			hasEndpoints = len(allEndpoints) > 0
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/proxy/ipvs/proxier.go b/pkg/proxy/ipvs/proxier.go
index a4ed4e292b1..83c9a01b3b1 100644
--- a/pkg/proxy/ipvs/proxier.go
+++ b/pkg/proxy/ipvs/proxier.go
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ func NewProxier(ipt utiliptables.Interface,
 
 	serviceHealthServer := healthcheck.NewServiceHealthServer(hostname, recorder)
 
-	endpointSlicesEnabled := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice)
+	endpointSlicesEnabled := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying)
 
 	proxier := &Proxier{
 		portsMap:              make(map[utilproxy.LocalPort]utilproxy.Closeable),
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ func (proxier *Proxier) OnServiceDelete(service *v1.Service) {
 func (proxier *Proxier) OnServiceSynced() {
 	proxier.mu.Lock()
 	proxier.servicesSynced = true
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice) {
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying) {
 		proxier.setInitialized(proxier.endpointSlicesSynced)
 	} else {
 		proxier.setInitialized(proxier.endpointsSynced)
@@ -1963,7 +1963,7 @@ func (proxier *Proxier) syncEndpoint(svcPortName proxy.ServicePortName, onlyNode
 	// 2. ServiceTopology is not enabled.
 	// 3. EndpointSlice is not enabled (service topology depends on endpoint slice
 	// to get topology information).
-	if !onlyNodeLocalEndpoints && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.ServiceTopology) && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSlice) {
+	if !onlyNodeLocalEndpoints && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.ServiceTopology) && utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.EndpointSliceProxying) {
 		endpoints = proxy.FilterTopologyEndpoint(proxier.nodeLabels, proxier.serviceMap[svcPortName].TopologyKeys(), endpoints)
 	}
 
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
index a6fec3d54cb..ad6468a53d2 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
+++ b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
@@ -1051,6 +1051,13 @@ items:
     - create
     - patch
     - update
+  - apiGroups:
+    - discovery.k8s.io
+    resources:
+    - endpointslices
+    verbs:
+    - list
+    - watch
 - apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRole
   metadata:
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-role-bindings.yaml b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-role-bindings.yaml
index 6d5cb73e50d..8a1ab919472 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-role-bindings.yaml
+++ b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-role-bindings.yaml
@@ -136,6 +136,23 @@ items:
   - kind: ServiceAccount
     name: endpoint-controller
     namespace: kube-system
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+  kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+  metadata:
+    annotations:
+      rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: "true"
+    creationTimestamp: null
+    labels:
+      kubernetes.io/bootstrapping: rbac-defaults
+    name: system:controller:endpointslice-controller
+  roleRef:
+    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+    kind: ClusterRole
+    name: system:controller:endpointslice-controller
+  subjects:
+  - kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: endpointslice-controller
+    namespace: kube-system
 - apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRoleBinding
   metadata:
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-roles.yaml b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-roles.yaml
index a13b8527014..c1bfa8d991f 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-roles.yaml
+++ b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/controller-roles.yaml
@@ -455,6 +455,45 @@ items:
     - create
     - patch
     - update
+- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+  kind: ClusterRole
+  metadata:
+    annotations:
+      rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: "true"
+    creationTimestamp: null
+    labels:
+      kubernetes.io/bootstrapping: rbac-defaults
+    name: system:controller:endpointslice-controller
+  rules:
+  - apiGroups:
+    - ""
+    resources:
+    - nodes
+    - pods
+    - services
+    verbs:
+    - get
+    - list
+    - watch
+  - apiGroups:
+    - discovery.k8s.io
+    resources:
+    - endpointslices
+    verbs:
+    - create
+    - delete
+    - get
+    - list
+    - update
+  - apiGroups:
+    - ""
+    - events.k8s.io
+    resources:
+    - events
+    verbs:
+    - create
+    - patch
+    - update
 - apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRole
   metadata: