diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
index 2f52fec618c..039d398551a 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
@@ -95,3 +95,15 @@ func AddKustomizePodsFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet, kustomizeDir *string) {
 	fs.StringVarP(kustomizeDir, Kustomize, "k", *kustomizeDir, "The path where kustomize patches for static pod manifests are stored.")
 	fs.MarkDeprecated(Kustomize, fmt.Sprintf("This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Please use %s instead.", Patches))
 }
+
+// AddPatchesFlag adds the --patches flag to the given flagset
+func AddPatchesFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet, patchesDir *string) {
+	fs.StringVar(patchesDir, Patches, *patchesDir, `Path to a directory that contains files named `+
+		`"target[suffix][+patchtype].extension". For example, `+
+		`"kube-apiserver0+merge.yaml" or just "etcd.json". `+
+		`"patchtype" can be one of "strategic", "merge" or "json" and they match the patch formats `+
+		`supported by kubectl. The default "patchtype" is "strategic". "extension" must be either `+
+		`"json" or "yaml". "suffix" is an optional string that can be used to determine `+
+		`which patches are applied first alpha-numerically.`,
+	)
+}