diff --git a/pkg/api/types.go b/pkg/api/types.go
index 28acced55c2..f898afdbf63 100644
--- a/pkg/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/types.go
@@ -781,6 +781,8 @@ type NodeSpec struct {
 	// PodCIDR represents the pod IP range assigned to the node
 	// Note: assigning IP ranges to nodes might need to be revisited when we support migratable IPs.
 	PodCIDR string `json:"cidr,omitempty"`
+	// External ID of the node assigned by some machine database (e.g. a cloud provider)
+	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // NodeStatus is information about the current status of a node.
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go b/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
index 7126d61ee9b..b1496605ba4 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta1/conversion.go
@@ -699,6 +699,7 @@ func init() {
 
 			out.HostIP = in.Status.HostIP
 			out.PodCIDR = in.Spec.PodCIDR
+			out.ExternalID = in.Spec.ExternalID
 			return s.Convert(&in.Spec.Capacity, &out.NodeResources.Capacity, 0)
 		},
 		func(in *Minion, out *newer.Node, s conversion.Scope) error {
@@ -720,6 +721,7 @@ func init() {
 
 			out.Status.HostIP = in.HostIP
 			out.Spec.PodCIDR = in.PodCIDR
+			out.Spec.ExternalID = in.ExternalID
 			return s.Convert(&in.NodeResources.Capacity, &out.Spec.Capacity, 0)
 		},
 		func(in *newer.LimitRange, out *LimitRange, s conversion.Scope) error {
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
index 9e2bd555a68..9354847994a 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -690,6 +690,8 @@ type Minion struct {
 	Status NodeStatus `json:"status,omitempty" description:"current status of node"`
 	// Labels for the node
 	Labels map[string]string `json:"labels,omitempty" description:"map of string keys and values that can be used to organize and categorize minions; labels of a minion assigned by the scheduler must match the scheduled pod's nodeSelector"`
+	// External ID of the node
+	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty" description:"external id of the node assigned by some machine database (e.g. a cloud provider)"`
 }
 
 // MinionList is a list of minions.
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go b/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
index c1c5e7603b8..a0ac51de0d0 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta2/conversion.go
@@ -619,6 +619,7 @@ func init() {
 
 			out.HostIP = in.Status.HostIP
 			out.PodCIDR = in.Spec.PodCIDR
+			out.ExternalID = in.Spec.ExternalID
 			return s.Convert(&in.Spec.Capacity, &out.NodeResources.Capacity, 0)
 		},
 		func(in *Minion, out *newer.Node, s conversion.Scope) error {
@@ -640,6 +641,7 @@ func init() {
 
 			out.Status.HostIP = in.HostIP
 			out.Spec.PodCIDR = in.PodCIDR
+			out.Spec.ExternalID = in.ExternalID
 			return s.Convert(&in.NodeResources.Capacity, &out.Spec.Capacity, 0)
 		},
 		func(in *newer.LimitRange, out *LimitRange, s conversion.Scope) error {
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
index 6787cc6c32e..8d51040071b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta2/types.go
@@ -654,6 +654,8 @@ type Minion struct {
 	Status NodeStatus `json:"status,omitempty" description:"current status of node"`
 	// Labels for the node
 	Labels map[string]string `json:"labels,omitempty" description:"map of string keys and values that can be used to organize and categorize minions; labels of a minion assigned by the scheduler must match the scheduled pod's nodeSelector"`
+	// External ID of the node
+	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty" description:"external id of the node assigned by some machine database (e.g. a cloud provider)"`
 }
 
 // MinionList is a list of minions.
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1beta3/types.go b/pkg/api/v1beta3/types.go
index 2258946e6ba..e10c45e058e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1beta3/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1beta3/types.go
@@ -814,6 +814,8 @@ type NodeSpec struct {
 	Capacity ResourceList `json:"capacity,omitempty"`
 	// PodCIDR represents the pod IP range assigned to the node
 	PodCIDR string `json:"cidr,omitempty"`
+	// External ID of the node assigned by some machine database (e.g. a cloud provider)
+	ExternalID string `json:"externalID,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // NodeStatus is information about the current status of a node.
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
index fda91ee960e..497d16b8802 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/aws/aws.go
@@ -150,6 +150,11 @@ func (aws *AWSCloud) IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return ip, nil
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (aws *AWSCloud) ExternalID(name string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 // Return a list of instances matching regex string.
 func (aws *AWSCloud) getInstancesByRegex(regex string) ([]string, error) {
 	resp, err := aws.ec2.Instances(nil, nil)
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
index 5ba83617940..7960c00c57e 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ type TCPLoadBalancer interface {
 type Instances interface {
 	// IPAddress returns an IP address of the specified instance.
 	IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error)
+	// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+	ExternalID(name string) (string, error)
 	// List lists instances that match 'filter' which is a regular expression which must match the entire instance name (fqdn)
 	List(filter string) ([]string, error)
 	// GetNodeResources gets the resources for a particular node
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/controller/nodecontroller.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/controller/nodecontroller.go
index 180016ee44f..6771a3ee15d 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/controller/nodecontroller.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/controller/nodecontroller.go
@@ -231,6 +231,12 @@ func (s *NodeController) PopulateIPs(nodes *api.NodeList) (*api.NodeList, error)
 			} else {
 				node.Status.HostIP = hostIP.String()
 			}
+			instanceID, err := instances.ExternalID(node.Name)
+			if err != nil {
+				glog.Errorf("error getting instance id for %s: %v", node.Name, err)
+			} else {
+				node.Spec.ExternalID = instanceID
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		for i := range nodes.Items {
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/fake/fake.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/fake/fake.go
index 4efc6d82d78..b4bf3b37c9c 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/fake/fake.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/fake/fake.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type FakeCloud struct {
 	Err           error
 	Calls         []string
 	IP            net.IP
+	ExtID         string
 	Machines      []string
 	NodeResources *api.NodeResources
 	ClusterList   []string
@@ -110,6 +111,13 @@ func (f *FakeCloud) IPAddress(instance string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return f.IP, f.Err
 }
 
+// ExternalID is a test-spy implementation of Instances.ExternalID.
+// It adds an entry "external-id" into the internal method call record.
+func (f *FakeCloud) ExternalID(instance string) (string, error) {
+	f.addCall("external-id")
+	return f.ExtID, f.Err
+}
+
 // List is a test-spy implementation of Instances.List.
 // It adds an entry "list" into the internal method call record.
 func (f *FakeCloud) List(filter string) ([]string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/gce/gce.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/gce/gce.go
index 529c810643e..9c36ed0b129 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/gce/gce.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/gce/gce.go
@@ -294,6 +294,11 @@ func (gce *GCECloud) IPAddress(instance string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return ip, nil
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (gce *GCECloud) ExternalID(instance string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 // fqdnSuffix is hacky function to compute the delta between hostame and hostname -f.
 func fqdnSuffix() (string, error) {
 	fullHostname, err := exec.Command("hostname", "-f").Output()
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
index 4e5947d6cca..3d93c7a06da 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/openstack/openstack.go
@@ -312,6 +312,11 @@ func (i *Instances) IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return net.ParseIP(ip), err
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (i *Instances) ExternalID(name string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 func (i *Instances) GetNodeResources(name string) (*api.NodeResources, error) {
 	glog.V(2).Infof("GetNodeResources(%v) called", name)
 
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/ovirt/ovirt.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/ovirt/ovirt.go
index 1b3e959f2f7..ddb3292dfdf 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/ovirt/ovirt.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/ovirt/ovirt.go
@@ -153,6 +153,11 @@ func (v *OVirtCloud) IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return address, nil
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (v *OVirtCloud) ExternalID(name string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 func getInstancesFromXml(body io.Reader) (OVirtInstanceMap, error) {
 	if body == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("ovirt rest-api response body is missing")
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/rackspace/rackspace.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/rackspace/rackspace.go
index 5ab564c9ee2..95d3ad67e02 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/rackspace/rackspace.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/rackspace/rackspace.go
@@ -363,6 +363,11 @@ func (i *Instances) IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return net.ParseIP(ip), err
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (i *Instances) ExternalID(name string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 func (i *Instances) GetNodeResources(name string) (*api.NodeResources, error) {
 	glog.V(2).Infof("GetNodeResources(%v) called", name)
 
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/vagrant/vagrant.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/vagrant/vagrant.go
index 3a7c6b4c179..ea0cf81e533 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/vagrant/vagrant.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/vagrant/vagrant.go
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ func (v *VagrantCloud) IPAddress(instance string) (net.IP, error) {
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to find IP address for instance: %s", instance)
 }
 
+// ExternalID returns the cloud provider ID of the specified instance.
+func (v *VagrantCloud) ExternalID(instance string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unimplemented")
+}
+
 // saltMinionsByRole filters a list of minions that have a matching role.
 func (v *VagrantCloud) saltMinionsByRole(minions []SaltMinion, role string) []SaltMinion {
 	var filteredMinions []SaltMinion