diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
index a3bf7ccdcf9..9672b18766a 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/options/options.go
@@ -177,9 +177,10 @@ func (s *ServerRunOptions) Flags() (fss cliflag.NamedFlagSets) {
 
 	fs.IntVar(&s.MasterCount, "apiserver-count", s.MasterCount,
 		"The number of apiservers running in the cluster, must be a positive number. (In use when --endpoint-reconciler-type=master-count is enabled.)")
+	fs.MarkDeprecated("apiserver-count", "apiserver-count is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.")
 
 	fs.StringVar(&s.EndpointReconcilerType, "endpoint-reconciler-type", string(s.EndpointReconcilerType),
-		"Use an endpoint reconciler ("+strings.Join(reconcilers.AllTypes.Names(), ", ")+")")
+		"Use an endpoint reconciler ("+strings.Join(reconcilers.AllTypes.Names(), ", ")+") master-count is deprecated, and will be removed in a future version.")
 
 	fs.IntVar(&s.IdentityLeaseDurationSeconds, "identity-lease-duration-seconds", s.IdentityLeaseDurationSeconds,
 		"The duration of kube-apiserver lease in seconds, must be a positive number. (In use when the APIServerIdentity feature gate is enabled.)")
diff --git a/pkg/controlplane/instance.go b/pkg/controlplane/instance.go
index 60369c2316f..fddbf1bb604 100644
--- a/pkg/controlplane/instance.go
+++ b/pkg/controlplane/instance.go
@@ -274,9 +274,9 @@ func (c *Config) createEndpointReconciler() reconcilers.EndpointReconciler {
 	klog.Infof("Using reconciler: %v", c.ExtraConfig.EndpointReconcilerType)
 	switch c.ExtraConfig.EndpointReconcilerType {
 	// there are numerous test dependencies that depend on a default controller
-	case "", reconcilers.MasterCountReconcilerType:
+	case reconcilers.MasterCountReconcilerType:
 		return c.createMasterCountReconciler()
-	case reconcilers.LeaseEndpointReconcilerType:
+	case "", reconcilers.LeaseEndpointReconcilerType:
 		return c.createLeaseReconciler()
 	case reconcilers.NoneEndpointReconcilerType:
 		return c.createNoneReconciler()