diff --git a/cmd/yamlfmt/OWNERS b/cmd/yamlfmt/OWNERS
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1cc9a523ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/yamlfmt/OWNERS
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# See the OWNERS docs at https://go.k8s.io/owners
+
+approvers:
+  - dims
diff --git a/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt.go b/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e22e00add27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt.go
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	indent := flag.Int("indent", 2, "default indent")
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	if flag.NArg() > 0 {
+		for _, path := range flag.Args() {
+			sourceYaml, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			rootNode, err := fetchYaml(sourceYaml)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			writer, err := os.OpenFile(path, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0666)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			err = streamYaml(writer, indent, rootNode)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func fetchYaml(sourceYaml []byte) (*yaml.Node, error) {
+	rootNode := yaml.Node{}
+	err := yaml.Unmarshal(sourceYaml, &rootNode)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &rootNode, nil
+}
+
+func streamYaml(writer io.Writer, indent *int, in *yaml.Node) error {
+	encoder := yaml.NewEncoder(writer)
+	encoder.SetIndent(*indent)
+	err := encoder.Encode(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return encoder.Close()
+}
diff --git a/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt_test.go b/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b4a3f2fd704
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestFetchYaml(t *testing.T) {
+	sourceYaml := ` # See the OWNERS docs at https://go.k8s.io/owners
+approvers:
+- dep-approvers
+- thockin         # Network
+- liggitt
+
+labels:
+- sig/architecture
+`
+
+	outputYaml := `# See the OWNERS docs at https://go.k8s.io/owners
+approvers:
+  - dep-approvers
+  - thockin # Network
+  - liggitt
+labels:
+  - sig/architecture
+`
+	node, _ := fetchYaml([]byte(sourceYaml))
+	var output bytes.Buffer
+	indent := 2
+	writer := bufio.NewWriter(&output)
+	_ = streamYaml(writer, &indent, node)
+	_ = writer.Flush()
+	assert.Equal(t, outputYaml, string(output.Bytes()), "yaml was not formatted correctly")
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index aa4afae1ad7..a31c9cf689f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/gcfg.v1 v1.2.0
 	gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v2 v2.2.2
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20210107192922-496545a6307b
 	k8s.io/api v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.0.0
diff --git a/hack/update-yamlfmt.sh b/hack/update-yamlfmt.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..d663830a2a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/update-yamlfmt.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/..
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
+
+kube::golang::verify_go_version
+
+cd "${KUBE_ROOT}"
+
+find_files() {
+  find . -not \( \
+      \( \
+        -wholename './output' \
+        -o -wholename './.git' \
+        -o -wholename './_output' \
+        -o -wholename './_gopath' \
+        -o -wholename './release' \
+        -o -wholename './target' \
+        -o -wholename '*/vendor/*' \
+      \) -prune \
+    \) -name 'OWNERS*'
+}
+
+find_files | xargs go run cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt.go
diff --git a/hack/verify-yamlfmt.sh b/hack/verify-yamlfmt.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e9986ac5ff8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/verify-yamlfmt.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# This script checks whether the OWNERS files need to be formatted or not by
+# `yamlfmt`. Run `hack/update-yamlfmt.sh` to actually format sources.
+#
+# Usage: `hack/verify-yamlfmt.sh`.
+
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/..
+export KUBE_ROOT
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
+
+kube::util::ensure_clean_working_dir
+
+_tmpdir="$(kube::realpath "$(mktemp -d -t verify-generated-files.XXXXXX)")"
+
+_tmp_gopath="${_tmpdir}/go"
+_tmp_kuberoot="${_tmp_gopath}/src/k8s.io/kubernetes"
+git worktree add -f "${_tmp_kuberoot}" HEAD
+kube::util::trap_add "git worktree remove -f ${_tmp_kuberoot} && rm -rf ${_tmpdir}" EXIT
+
+find_files() {
+  pushd "${_tmp_kuberoot}" >/dev/null 2>&1
+  find "$(pwd)" -not \( \
+      \( \
+        -wholename './output' \
+        -o -wholename './.git' \
+        -o -wholename './_output' \
+        -o -wholename './_gopath' \
+        -o -wholename './release' \
+        -o -wholename './target' \
+        -o -wholename '*/vendor/*' \
+      \) -prune \
+    \) -name 'OWNERS*'
+  popd >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+find_files | xargs go run cmd/yamlfmt/yamlfmt.go
+
+cd "${_tmp_kuberoot}"
+changed_files=$(git status --porcelain)
+
+if [[ -n "${changed_files}" ]]; then
+  echo "!!! OWNERS files need to be updated:" >&2
+  echo "${changed_files}" >&2
+  echo >&2
+  echo "Please run hack/update-yamlfmt.sh." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index d086c678b3c..94230a84c30 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -1241,6 +1241,7 @@ gopkg.in/warnings.v0
 ## explicit
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2
 # gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20210107192922-496545a6307b => gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20210107192922-496545a6307b
+## explicit
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3
 # k8s.io/api v0.0.0 => ./staging/src/k8s.io/api
 ## explicit