diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index 12e3fba4941..0bf79e5ddd7 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourceValidation:        {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourceSubresources:      {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourceWebhookConversion: {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
-	apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI:    {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
+	apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI:    {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 
 	// features that enable backwards compatibility but are scheduled to be removed
 	// ...
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
index 9883471c647..e7b3713739f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -213,7 +213,11 @@ func (c completedConfig) New(delegationTarget genericapiserver.DelegationTarget)
 		return nil
 	})
 	s.GenericAPIServer.AddPostStartHookOrDie("start-apiextensions-controllers", func(context genericapiserver.PostStartHookContext) error {
-		if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI) {
+		// OpenAPIVersionedService and StaticOpenAPISpec are populated in generic apiserver PrepareRun().
+		// Together they serve the /openapi/v2 endpoint on a generic apiserver. A generic apiserver may
+		// choose to not enable OpenAPI by having null openAPIConfig, and thus OpenAPIVersionedService
+		// and StaticOpenAPISpec are both null. In that case we don't run the CRD OpenAPI controller.
+		if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(apiextensionsfeatures.CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI) && s.GenericAPIServer.OpenAPIVersionedService != nil && s.GenericAPIServer.StaticOpenAPISpec != nil {
 			go openapiController.Run(s.GenericAPIServer.StaticOpenAPISpec, s.GenericAPIServer.OpenAPIVersionedService, context.StopCh)
 		}
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index a83f27e5efb..72ff90993ca 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -66,5 +66,5 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	CustomResourceValidation:        {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	CustomResourceSubresources:      {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 	CustomResourceWebhookConversion: {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
-	CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI:    {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
+	CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI:    {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
index afa4c053bcd..f2af806fda2 100644
--- a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
+++ b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ var (
 	metaPattern              = `"kind":"%s","apiVersion":"%s/%s","metadata":{"name":"%s"}`
 )
 
-var _ = SIGDescribe("CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI [Feature:CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI]", func() {
+var _ = SIGDescribe("CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI", func() {
 	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("crd-publish-openapi")
 
 	ginkgo.BeforeEach(func() {
diff --git a/test/integration/master/crd_test.go b/test/integration/master/crd_test.go
index 778173da15d..75db01ac1f7 100644
--- a/test/integration/master/crd_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/master/crd_test.go
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func TestCRD(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestCRDOpenAPI(t *testing.T) {
-	result := kubeapiservertesting.StartTestServerOrDie(t, nil, []string{"--feature-gates=CustomResourcePublishOpenAPI=true"}, framework.SharedEtcd())
+	result := kubeapiservertesting.StartTestServerOrDie(t, nil, nil, framework.SharedEtcd())
 	defer result.TearDownFn()
 	kubeclient, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(result.ClientConfig)
 	if err != nil {