diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
index 144f38c1171..cf9d7c235b8 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ func (c *kubeletConfiguration) addFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 
 	fs.StringVar(&c.RemoteRuntimeEndpoint, "container-runtime-endpoint", c.RemoteRuntimeEndpoint, "[Experimental] The unix socket endpoint of remote runtime service. The endpoint is used only when CRI integration is enabled (--enable-cri)")
 	fs.StringVar(&c.RemoteImageEndpoint, "image-service-endpoint", c.RemoteImageEndpoint, "[Experimental] The unix socket endpoint of remote image service. If not specified, it will be the same with container-runtime-endpoint by default. The endpoint is used only when CRI integration is enabled (--enable-cri)")
+	fs.BoolVar(&c.DockerEnableSharedPID, "experimental-docker-enable-shared-pid", c.DockerEnableSharedPID, "[Experimental] The Container Runtime Interface (CRI) will eventually default to using a shared PID namespace for containers in a pod. Setting this flag allows previewing this behavior when running with the CRI enabled and Docker version 1.13.1 or higher.")
 
 	fs.BoolVar(&c.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount, "experimental-check-node-capabilities-before-mount", c.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount, "[Experimental] if set true, the kubelet will check the underlying node for required componenets (binaries, etc.) before performing the mount")
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 30279dff836..92a41383de7 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -976,7 +976,8 @@ func RunDockershim(c *componentconfig.KubeletConfiguration, dockershimRootDir st
 	}
 
 	ds, err := dockershim.NewDockerService(dockerClient, c.SeccompProfileRoot, c.PodInfraContainerImage,
-		streamingConfig, &pluginSettings, c.RuntimeCgroups, c.CgroupDriver, dockerExecHandler, dockershimRootDir)
+		streamingConfig, &pluginSettings, c.RuntimeCgroups, c.CgroupDriver, dockerExecHandler, dockershimRootDir,
+		!c.DockerEnableSharedPID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
index 76f40b59b44..f100797cf0a 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ experimental-check-node-capabilities-before-mount
 experimental-cri
 experimental-dockershim
 experimental-dockershim-root-directory
+experimental-docker-enable-shared-pid
 experimental-fail-swap-on
 experimental-kernel-memcg-notification
 experimental-keystone-ca-file
diff --git a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/types.go b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/types.go
index 4790c495be6..6ca58411e67 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/types.go
@@ -481,6 +481,11 @@ type KubeletConfiguration struct {
 	// This flag, if set, instructs the kubelet to keep volumes from terminated pods mounted to the node.
 	// This can be useful for debugging volume related issues.
 	KeepTerminatedPodVolumes bool
+	// This flag, if set, enables use of a shared PID namespace for pods running in the docker CRI runtime.
+	// A shared PID namespace is the only option in non-docker runtimes and is required by the CRI. The ability to
+	// disable it for docker will be removed unless a compelling use case is discovered with widespread use.
+	// TODO: Remove once we no longer support disabling shared PID namespace (https://issues.k8s.io/41938)
+	DockerEnableSharedPID bool
 
 	/* following flags are meant for Node Allocatable */
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/types.go b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
index 847168ae707..a85cc657d99 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/types.go
@@ -536,6 +536,8 @@ type KubeletConfiguration struct {
 	// This flag, if set, instructs the kubelet to keep volumes from terminated pods mounted to the node.
 	// This can be useful for debugging volume related issues.
 	KeepTerminatedPodVolumes bool `json:"keepTerminatedPodVolumes,omitempty"`
+	// This flag, if set, enables use of a shared PID namespace for pods run by the docker CRI runtime.
+	DockerEnableSharedPID *bool `json:"dockerEnableSharedPID,omitempty"`
 
 	/* following flags are meant for Node Allocatable */
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
index 73eadeae197..932f8d9638b 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
@@ -436,6 +436,9 @@ func autoConvert_v1alpha1_KubeletConfiguration_To_componentconfig_KubeletConfigu
 	out.ExperimentalFailSwapOn = in.ExperimentalFailSwapOn
 	out.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount = in.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount
 	out.KeepTerminatedPodVolumes = in.KeepTerminatedPodVolumes
+	if err := v1.Convert_Pointer_bool_To_bool(&in.DockerEnableSharedPID, &out.DockerEnableSharedPID, s); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	out.SystemReserved = *(*componentconfig.ConfigurationMap)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.SystemReserved))
 	out.KubeReserved = *(*componentconfig.ConfigurationMap)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.KubeReserved))
 	out.SystemReservedCgroup = in.SystemReservedCgroup
@@ -637,6 +640,9 @@ func autoConvert_componentconfig_KubeletConfiguration_To_v1alpha1_KubeletConfigu
 	out.ExperimentalFailSwapOn = in.ExperimentalFailSwapOn
 	out.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount = in.ExperimentalCheckNodeCapabilitiesBeforeMount
 	out.KeepTerminatedPodVolumes = in.KeepTerminatedPodVolumes
+	if err := v1.Convert_bool_To_Pointer_bool(&in.DockerEnableSharedPID, &out.DockerEnableSharedPID, s); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	out.SystemReserved = *(*map[string]string)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.SystemReserved))
 	out.KubeReserved = *(*map[string]string)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.KubeReserved))
 	out.SystemReservedCgroup = in.SystemReservedCgroup
diff --git a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index f8e5b76a776..4ca4c4d306b 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/componentconfig/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -303,6 +303,11 @@ func DeepCopy_v1alpha1_KubeletConfiguration(in interface{}, out interface{}, c *
 			*out = new(bool)
 			**out = **in
 		}
+		if in.DockerEnableSharedPID != nil {
+			in, out := &in.DockerEnableSharedPID, &out.DockerEnableSharedPID
+			*out = new(bool)
+			**out = **in
+		}
 		if in.SystemReserved != nil {
 			in, out := &in.SystemReserved, &out.SystemReserved
 			*out = make(map[string]string)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_container.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_container.go
index 428c8c15551..45c85b5b0f4 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_container.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_container.go
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ func (ds *dockerService) CreateContainer(podSandboxID string, config *runtimeapi
 
 		// Apply security context.
 		applyContainerSecurityContext(lc, podSandboxID, createConfig.Config, hc, securityOptSep)
+		modifyPIDNamespaceOverrides(ds.disableSharedPID, apiVersion, hc)
 	}
 
 	// Apply cgroupsParent derived from the sandbox config.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_service.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_service.go
index 08558c5dc4c..44696c59200 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_service.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/docker_service.go
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ var internalLabelKeys []string = []string{containerTypeLabelKey, containerLogPat
 
 // NOTE: Anything passed to DockerService should be eventually handled in another way when we switch to running the shim as a different process.
 func NewDockerService(client dockertools.DockerInterface, seccompProfileRoot string, podSandboxImage string, streamingConfig *streaming.Config,
-	pluginSettings *NetworkPluginSettings, cgroupsName string, kubeCgroupDriver string, execHandler dockertools.ExecHandler, dockershimRootDir string) (DockerService, error) {
+	pluginSettings *NetworkPluginSettings, cgroupsName string, kubeCgroupDriver string, execHandler dockertools.ExecHandler, dockershimRootDir string, disableSharedPID bool) (DockerService, error) {
 	c := dockertools.NewInstrumentedDockerInterface(client)
 	checkpointHandler, err := NewPersistentCheckpointHandler(dockershimRootDir)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ func NewDockerService(client dockertools.DockerInterface, seccompProfileRoot str
 		},
 		containerManager:  cm.NewContainerManager(cgroupsName, client),
 		checkpointHandler: checkpointHandler,
+		disableSharedPID:  disableSharedPID,
 	}
 
 	// check docker version compatibility.
@@ -249,6 +250,11 @@ type dockerService struct {
 	// version checking for some operations. Use this cache to avoid querying
 	// the docker daemon every time we need to do such checks.
 	versionCache *cache.ObjectCache
+	// This option provides an escape hatch to override the new default behavior for Docker under
+	// the CRI to use a shared PID namespace for all pods. It is temporary and will be removed.
+	// See proposals/pod-pid-namespace.md for details.
+	// TODO: Remove once the escape hatch is no longer used (https://issues.k8s.io/41938)
+	disableSharedPID bool
 }
 
 // Version returns the runtime name, runtime version and runtime API version
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context.go
index f1f3025b9a6..55b7030e4a5 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context.go
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ package dockershim
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	dockercontainer "github.com/docker/engine-api/types/container"
 
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/v1"
@@ -123,6 +125,7 @@ func modifyContainerNamespaceOptions(nsOpts *runtimeapi.NamespaceOption, sandbox
 	if nsOpts != nil {
 		hostNetwork = nsOpts.HostNetwork
 	}
+	hostConfig.PidMode = dockercontainer.PidMode(fmt.Sprintf("container:%v", sandboxID))
 	modifyCommonNamespaceOptions(nsOpts, hostConfig)
 	modifyHostNetworkOptionForContainer(hostNetwork, sandboxID, hostConfig)
 }
@@ -172,3 +175,19 @@ func modifyHostNetworkOptionForContainer(hostNetwork bool, sandboxID string, hc
 		hc.UTSMode = namespaceModeHost
 	}
 }
+
+// modifyPIDNamespaceOverrides implements two temporary overrides for the default PID namespace sharing for Docker:
+//     1. Docker engine prior to API Version 1.24 doesn't support attaching to another container's
+//        PID namespace, and it didn't stabilize until 1.26. This check can be removed when Kubernetes'
+//        minimum Docker version is at least 1.13.1 (API version 1.26).
+//     2. The administrator has overridden the default behavior by means of a kubelet flag. This is an
+//        "escape hatch" to return to previous behavior of isolated namespaces and should be removed once
+//        no longer needed.
+func modifyPIDNamespaceOverrides(disableSharedPID bool, version *semver.Version, hc *dockercontainer.HostConfig) {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(string(hc.PidMode), "container:") {
+		return
+	}
+	if disableSharedPID || version.LT(semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 26}) {
+		hc.PidMode = ""
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context_test.go
index 9b89b46703f..1074ee411a2 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/security_context_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	dockercontainer "github.com/docker/engine-api/types/container"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 
@@ -172,12 +173,14 @@ func TestModifyHostConfigAndNamespaceOptionsForContainer(t *testing.T) {
 		Privileged:  true,
 		IpcMode:     dockercontainer.IpcMode(sandboxNSMode),
 		NetworkMode: dockercontainer.NetworkMode(sandboxNSMode),
+		PidMode:     dockercontainer.PidMode(sandboxNSMode),
 	}
 	setCapsHC := &dockercontainer.HostConfig{
 		CapAdd:      []string{"addCapA", "addCapB"},
 		CapDrop:     []string{"dropCapA", "dropCapB"},
 		IpcMode:     dockercontainer.IpcMode(sandboxNSMode),
 		NetworkMode: dockercontainer.NetworkMode(sandboxNSMode),
+		PidMode:     dockercontainer.PidMode(sandboxNSMode),
 	}
 	setSELinuxHC := &dockercontainer.HostConfig{
 		SecurityOpt: []string{
@@ -188,6 +191,7 @@ func TestModifyHostConfigAndNamespaceOptionsForContainer(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		IpcMode:     dockercontainer.IpcMode(sandboxNSMode),
 		NetworkMode: dockercontainer.NetworkMode(sandboxNSMode),
+		PidMode:     dockercontainer.PidMode(sandboxNSMode),
 	}
 
 	cases := []struct {
@@ -286,6 +290,7 @@ func TestModifyContainerNamespaceOptions(t *testing.T) {
 				NetworkMode: dockercontainer.NetworkMode(sandboxNSMode),
 				IpcMode:     dockercontainer.IpcMode(sandboxNSMode),
 				UTSMode:     namespaceModeHost,
+				PidMode:     dockercontainer.PidMode(sandboxNSMode),
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -296,6 +301,7 @@ func TestModifyContainerNamespaceOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			expected: &dockercontainer.HostConfig{
 				NetworkMode: dockercontainer.NetworkMode(sandboxNSMode),
 				IpcMode:     dockercontainer.IpcMode(sandboxNSMode),
+				PidMode:     dockercontainer.PidMode(sandboxNSMode),
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -317,6 +323,63 @@ func TestModifyContainerNamespaceOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestModifyContainerNamespacePIDOverride(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name            string
+		disable         bool
+		version         *semver.Version
+		input, expected dockercontainer.PidMode
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.Enable",
+			disable:  false,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 26},
+			input:    "container:sandbox",
+			expected: "container:sandbox",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.Disable",
+			disable:  true,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 26},
+			input:    "container:sandbox",
+			expected: "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.OldDocker",
+			disable:  false,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 25},
+			input:    "container:sandbox",
+			expected: "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.HostPid",
+			disable:  true,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 27},
+			input:    "host",
+			expected: "host",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.DistantFuture",
+			disable:  false,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 2, Minor: 10},
+			input:    "container:sandbox",
+			expected: "container:sandbox",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "SharedPID.EmptyPidMode",
+			disable:  true,
+			version:  &semver.Version{Major: 1, Minor: 25},
+			input:    "",
+			expected: "",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		dockerCfg := &dockercontainer.HostConfig{PidMode: tc.input}
+		modifyPIDNamespaceOverrides(tc.disable, tc.version, dockerCfg)
+		assert.Equal(t, tc.expected, dockerCfg.PidMode, "[Test case %q]", tc.name)
+	}
+}
+
 func fullValidSecurityContext() *runtimeapi.LinuxContainerSecurityContext {
 	return &runtimeapi.LinuxContainerSecurityContext{
 		Privileged:     true,
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index e4c3e062b81..f60e5e89db7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -553,7 +553,8 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *componentconfig.KubeletConfiguration, kubeDeps *Kub
 			// Create and start the CRI shim running as a grpc server.
 			streamingConfig := getStreamingConfig(kubeCfg, kubeDeps)
 			ds, err := dockershim.NewDockerService(klet.dockerClient, kubeCfg.SeccompProfileRoot, kubeCfg.PodInfraContainerImage,
-				streamingConfig, &pluginSettings, kubeCfg.RuntimeCgroups, kubeCfg.CgroupDriver, dockerExecHandler, dockershimRootDir)
+				streamingConfig, &pluginSettings, kubeCfg.RuntimeCgroups, kubeCfg.CgroupDriver, dockerExecHandler, dockershimRootDir,
+				!kubeCfg.DockerEnableSharedPID)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}