diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/apis/kubeletconfig/v1alpha1/types.go b/pkg/kubelet/apis/kubeletconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
index 5e5747cfa84..3c950955f2c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/apis/kubeletconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/apis/kubeletconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
@@ -209,10 +209,10 @@ type KubeletConfiguration struct {
 	SerializeImagePulls *bool `json:"serializeImagePulls"`
 	// Map of signal names to quantities that defines hard eviction thresholds. For example: {"memory.available": "300Mi"}.
 	// +optional
-	EvictionHard map[string]string `json:"evictionHard"`
+	EvictionHard map[string]string `json:"evictionHard,omitempty"`
 	// Map of signal names to quantities that defines soft eviction thresholds.  For example: {"memory.available": "300Mi"}.
 	// +optional
-	EvictionSoft map[string]string `json:"evictionSoft"`
+	EvictionSoft map[string]string `json:"evictionSoft,omitempty"`
 	// Map of signal names to quantities that defines grace periods for each soft eviction signal. For example: {"memory.available": "30s"}.
 	// +optional
 	EvictionSoftGracePeriod map[string]string `json:"evictionSoftGracePeriod"`
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
index 0f51de97edc..87c4da77498 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers.go
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ func ParseThresholdConfig(allocatableConfig []string, evictionHard, evictionSoft
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	results = append(results, hardThresholds...)
-
 	softThresholds, err := parseThresholdStatements(evictionSoft)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -151,26 +150,36 @@ func parseThresholdStatements(statements map[string]string) ([]evictionapi.Thres
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		results = append(results, result)
+		if result != nil {
+			results = append(results, *result)
+		}
 	}
 	return results, nil
 }
 
-// parseThresholdStatement parses a threshold statement.
-func parseThresholdStatement(signal evictionapi.Signal, val string) (evictionapi.Threshold, error) {
+// parseThresholdStatement parses a threshold statement and returns a threshold,
+// or nil if the threshold should be ignored.
+func parseThresholdStatement(signal evictionapi.Signal, val string) (*evictionapi.Threshold, error) {
 	if !validSignal(signal) {
-		return evictionapi.Threshold{}, fmt.Errorf(unsupportedEvictionSignal, signal)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(unsupportedEvictionSignal, signal)
 	}
 	operator := evictionapi.OpForSignal[signal]
 	if strings.HasSuffix(val, "%") {
+		// ignore 0% and 100%
+		if val == "0%" || val == "100%" {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
 		percentage, err := parsePercentage(val)
 		if err != nil {
-			return evictionapi.Threshold{}, err
+			return nil, err
 		}
-		if percentage <= 0 {
-			return evictionapi.Threshold{}, fmt.Errorf("eviction percentage threshold %v must be positive: %s", signal, val)
+		if percentage < 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("eviction percentage threshold %v must be >= 0%%: %s", signal, val)
 		}
-		return evictionapi.Threshold{
+		if percentage > 100 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("eviction percentage threshold %v must be <= 100%%: %s", signal, val)
+		}
+		return &evictionapi.Threshold{
 			Signal:   signal,
 			Operator: operator,
 			Value: evictionapi.ThresholdValue{
@@ -180,12 +189,12 @@ func parseThresholdStatement(signal evictionapi.Signal, val string) (evictionapi
 	}
 	quantity, err := resource.ParseQuantity(val)
 	if err != nil {
-		return evictionapi.Threshold{}, err
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	if quantity.Sign() < 0 || quantity.IsZero() {
-		return evictionapi.Threshold{}, fmt.Errorf("eviction threshold %v must be positive: %s", signal, &quantity)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("eviction threshold %v must be positive: %s", signal, &quantity)
 	}
-	return evictionapi.Threshold{
+	return &evictionapi.Threshold{
 		Signal:   signal,
 		Operator: operator,
 		Value: evictionapi.ThresholdValue{
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
index ca78f4583f2..168352ff255 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/eviction/helpers_test.go
@@ -288,6 +288,20 @@ func TestParseThresholdConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		"disable via 0%": {
+			allocatableConfig: []string{},
+			evictionHard:      map[string]string{"memory.available": "0%"},
+			evictionSoft:      map[string]string{"memory.available": "0%"},
+			expectErr:         false,
+			expectThresholds:  []evictionapi.Threshold{},
+		},
+		"disable via 100%": {
+			allocatableConfig: []string{},
+			evictionHard:      map[string]string{"memory.available": "100%"},
+			evictionSoft:      map[string]string{"memory.available": "100%"},
+			expectErr:         false,
+			expectThresholds:  []evictionapi.Threshold{},
+		},
 		"invalid-signal": {
 			allocatableConfig:       []string{},
 			evictionHard:            map[string]string{"mem.available": "150Mi"},
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go b/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
index 1f24b27d9a8..c2d9c9a67a1 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/eviction_test.go
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("LocalStorageSoftEviction [Slow] [Serial] [Disrup
 			initialConfig.EvictionMaxPodGracePeriod = 30
 			initialConfig.EvictionMinimumReclaim = map[string]string{}
 			// Ensure that pods are not evicted because of the eviction-hard threshold
-			initialConfig.EvictionHard = map[string]string{}
+			// setting a threshold to 0% disables; non-empty map overrides default value (necessary due to omitempty)
+			initialConfig.EvictionHard = map[string]string{"memory.available": "0%"}
 		})
 		runEvictionTest(f, pressureTimeout, expectedNodeCondition, logDiskMetrics, []podEvictSpec{
 			{
@@ -192,7 +193,8 @@ var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("LocalStorageCapacityIsolationEviction [Slow] [Se
 	Context(fmt.Sprintf(testContextFmt, "evictions due to pod local storage violations"), func() {
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
 			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.LocalStorageCapacityIsolation)] = true
-			initialConfig.EvictionHard = map[string]string{}
+			// setting a threshold to 0% disables; non-empty map overrides default value (necessary due to omitempty)
+			initialConfig.EvictionHard = map[string]string{"memory.available": "0%"}
 		})
 		sizeLimit := resource.MustParse("100Mi")
 		useOverLimit := 101 /* Mb */