diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller.go b/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller.go
index 2ac6bfcf92b..8d71e08d72d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller.go
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ type controller struct {
 	renewInterval              time.Duration
 	clock                      clock.Clock
 	onRepeatedHeartbeatFailure func()
+
+	// latestLease is the latest node lease which Kubelet updated or created
+	latestLease *coordinationv1.Lease
 }
 
 // NewController constructs and returns a controller
@@ -87,7 +90,25 @@ func (c *controller) Run(stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 }
 
 func (c *controller) sync() {
+	if c.latestLease != nil {
+		// As long as node lease is not (or very rarely) updated by any other agent than Kubelet,
+		// we can optimistically assume it didn't change since our last update and try updating
+		// based on the version from that time. Thanks to it we avoid GET call and reduce load
+		// on etcd and kube-apiserver.
+		// If at some point other agents will also be frequently updating the Lease object, this
+		// can result in performance degradation, because we will end up with calling additional
+		// GET/PUT - at this point this whole "if" should be removed.
+		lease, err := c.leaseClient.Update(c.newLease(c.latestLease))
+		if err == nil {
+			c.latestLease = lease
+			return
+		}
+
+		klog.Infof("failed to update lease using latest lease, fallback to ensure lease, err: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	lease, created := c.backoffEnsureLease()
+	c.latestLease = lease
 	// we don't need to update the lease if we just created it
 	if !created {
 		if err := c.retryUpdateLease(lease); err != nil {
@@ -143,8 +164,9 @@ func (c *controller) ensureLease() (*coordinationv1.Lease, bool, error) {
 // call this once you're sure the lease has been created
 func (c *controller) retryUpdateLease(base *coordinationv1.Lease) error {
 	for i := 0; i < maxUpdateRetries; i++ {
-		_, err := c.leaseClient.Update(c.newLease(base))
+		lease, err := c.leaseClient.Update(c.newLease(base))
 		if err == nil {
+			c.latestLease = lease
 			return nil
 		}
 		klog.Errorf("failed to update node lease, error: %v", err)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller_test.go
index 6e43ea0daae..a2eaea5ac11 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/nodelease/controller_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package nodelease
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -282,3 +283,118 @@ func TestRetryUpdateLease(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestUpdateUsingLatestLease(t *testing.T) {
+	nodeName := "foo"
+	node := &corev1.Node{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: nodeName,
+			UID:  types.UID("foo-uid"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	notFoundErr := apierrors.NewNotFound(coordinationv1.Resource("lease"), nodeName)
+	internalErr := apierrors.NewInternalError(errors.New("unreachable code"))
+
+	makeLease := func(name, resourceVersion string) *coordinationv1.Lease {
+		return &coordinationv1.Lease{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Namespace:       corev1.NamespaceNodeLease,
+				Name:            name,
+				ResourceVersion: resourceVersion,
+			},
+		}
+	}
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		desc                       string
+		latestLease                *coordinationv1.Lease
+		updateReactor              func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error)
+		getReactor                 func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error)
+		createReactor              func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error)
+		expectLeaseResourceVersion string
+	}{
+		{
+			desc:          "latestLease is nil and need to create",
+			latestLease:   nil,
+			updateReactor: nil,
+			getReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, nil, notFoundErr
+			},
+			createReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, makeLease(nodeName, "1"), nil
+			},
+			expectLeaseResourceVersion: "1",
+		},
+		{
+			desc:        "latestLease is nil and need to update",
+			latestLease: nil,
+			updateReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, makeLease(nodeName, "2"), nil
+			},
+			getReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, makeLease(nodeName, "1"), nil
+			},
+			expectLeaseResourceVersion: "2",
+		},
+		{
+			desc:        "latestLease exist and need to update",
+			latestLease: makeLease(nodeName, "1"),
+			updateReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, makeLease(nodeName, "2"), nil
+			},
+			expectLeaseResourceVersion: "2",
+		},
+		{
+			desc:        "update with latest lease failed",
+			latestLease: makeLease(nodeName, "1"),
+			updateReactor: func() func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				i := 0
+				return func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+					i++
+					switch i {
+					case 1:
+						return true, nil, notFoundErr
+					case 2:
+						return true, makeLease(nodeName, "3"), nil
+					default:
+						t.Fatalf("unexpect call update lease")
+						return true, nil, internalErr
+					}
+				}
+			}(),
+			getReactor: func(action clienttesting.Action) (bool, runtime.Object, error) {
+				return true, makeLease(nodeName, "2"), nil
+			},
+			expectLeaseResourceVersion: "3",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			cl := fake.NewSimpleClientset(node)
+			if tc.updateReactor != nil {
+				cl.PrependReactor("update", "leases", tc.updateReactor)
+			}
+			if tc.getReactor != nil {
+				cl.PrependReactor("get", "leases", tc.getReactor)
+			}
+			if tc.createReactor != nil {
+				cl.PrependReactor("create", "leases", tc.createReactor)
+			}
+			c := &controller{
+				clock:                clock.NewFakeClock(time.Now()),
+				client:               cl,
+				leaseClient:          cl.CoordinationV1().Leases(corev1.NamespaceNodeLease),
+				holderIdentity:       node.Name,
+				leaseDurationSeconds: 10,
+				latestLease:          tc.latestLease,
+			}
+
+			c.sync()
+
+			if tc.expectLeaseResourceVersion != c.latestLease.ResourceVersion {
+				t.Fatalf("latestLease RV got %v, expected %v", c.latestLease.ResourceVersion, tc.expectLeaseResourceVersion)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}