diff --git a/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-configmap.yaml b/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-configmap.yaml
index c9c47692558..115011c0fa0 100644
--- a/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-configmap.yaml
+++ b/cluster/addons/fluentd-gcp/fluentd-gcp-configmap.yaml
@@ -282,6 +282,25 @@ data:
       read_from_head true
       tag node-problem-detector
     </source>
+
+    # BEGIN_NODE_JOURNAL
+    # Whether to include node-journal or not is determined when starting the
+    # cluster. It is not changed when the cluster is already running.
+    <source>
+      @type systemd
+      pos_file /var/log/gcp-journald.pos
+      read_from_head true
+      tag node-journal
+    </source>
+
+    <filter node-journal>
+      @type grep
+      <exclude>
+        key _SYSTEMD_UNIT
+        pattern ^(docker|{{ container_runtime }}|kubelet|node-problem-detector)\.service$
+      </exclude>
+    </filter>
+    # END_NODE_JOURNAL
   monitoring.conf: |-
     # This source is used to acquire approximate process start timestamp,
     # which purpose is explained before the corresponding output plugin.
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index c10c38bad5e..b7d180444cf 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -376,6 +376,9 @@ HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE="${HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE:-0.5}"
 # Adding to PROVIDER_VARS, since this is GCP-specific.
 PROVIDER_VARS="${PROVIDER_VARS:-} FLUENTD_GCP_VERSION FLUENTD_GCP_MEMORY_LIMIT FLUENTD_GCP_CPU_REQUEST FLUENTD_GCP_MEMORY_REQUEST HEAPSTER_GCP_BASE_MEMORY HEAPSTER_GCP_MEMORY_PER_NODE HEAPSTER_GCP_BASE_CPU HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE CUSTOM_KUBE_DASHBOARD_BANNER"
 
+# Fluentd configuration for node-journal
+ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL="${ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL:-false}"
+
 # prometheus-to-sd configuration
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT="${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT:-https://monitoring.googleapis.com/}"
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX="${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX:-custom.googleapis.com}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 5b60f560cdb..4b3bd08538e 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -407,6 +407,9 @@ HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE="${HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE:-0.5}"
 # Adding to PROVIDER_VARS, since this is GCP-specific.
 PROVIDER_VARS="${PROVIDER_VARS:-} FLUENTD_GCP_VERSION FLUENTD_GCP_MEMORY_LIMIT FLUENTD_GCP_CPU_REQUEST FLUENTD_GCP_MEMORY_REQUEST HEAPSTER_GCP_BASE_MEMORY HEAPSTER_GCP_MEMORY_PER_NODE HEAPSTER_GCP_BASE_CPU HEAPSTER_GCP_CPU_PER_NODE CUSTOM_KUBE_DASHBOARD_BANNER"
 
+# Fluentd configuration for node-journal
+ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL="${ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL:-false}"
+
 # prometheus-to-sd configuration
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT="${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT:-https://monitoring.googleapis.com/}"
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX="${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX:-custom.googleapis.com}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index e22392ff021..9bfc6054180 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -2008,6 +2008,15 @@ function update-container-runtime {
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *container_runtime *}}@${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_NAME:-docker}@g" "${configmap_yaml}"
 }
 
+# Remove configuration in yaml file if node journal is not enabled.
+function update-node-journal {
+  local -r configmap_yaml="$1"
+  if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL:-}" != "true" ]]; then
+    # Removes all lines between two patterns (throws away node-journal)
+    sed -i -e "/# BEGIN_NODE_JOURNAL/,/# END_NODE_JOURNAL/d" "${configmap_yaml}"
+  fi
+}
+
 # Updates parameters in yaml file for prometheus-to-sd configuration, or
 # removes component if it is disabled.
 function update-prometheus-to-sd-parameters {
@@ -2187,6 +2196,7 @@ EOF
     update-prometheus-to-sd-parameters ${fluentd_gcp_yaml}
     start-fluentd-resource-update ${fluentd_gcp_yaml}
     update-container-runtime ${fluentd_gcp_configmap_yaml}
+    update-node-journal ${fluentd_gcp_configmap_yaml}
   fi
   if [[ "${ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-}" == "true" ]]; then
     setup-addon-manifests "addons" "dashboard"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 21b7a236905..5ad79f48939 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -732,6 +732,7 @@ ADVANCED_AUDIT_WEBHOOK_THROTTLE_BURST: $(yaml-quote ${ADVANCED_AUDIT_WEBHOOK_THR
 ADVANCED_AUDIT_WEBHOOK_INITIAL_BACKOFF: $(yaml-quote ${ADVANCED_AUDIT_WEBHOOK_INITIAL_BACKOFF:-})
 GCE_API_ENDPOINT: $(yaml-quote ${GCE_API_ENDPOINT:-})
 GCE_GLBC_IMAGE: $(yaml-quote ${GCE_GLBC_IMAGE:-})
+ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_NODE_JOURNAL:-false})
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT: $(yaml-quote ${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_ENDPOINT:-})
 PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX: $(yaml-quote ${PROMETHEUS_TO_SD_PREFIX:-})
 ENABLE_PROMETHEUS_TO_SD: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_PROMETHEUS_TO_SD:-false})
@@ -1400,7 +1401,7 @@ function get-template-name-from-version() {
   echo "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-template-${1}" | cut -c 1-63 | sed 's/[\.\+]/-/g;s/-*$//g'
 }
 
-# validates the NODE_LOCAL_SSDS_EXT variable 
+# validates the NODE_LOCAL_SSDS_EXT variable
 function validate-node-local-ssds-ext(){
   ssdopts="${1}"
 
@@ -1476,7 +1477,7 @@ function create-node-template() {
       done
     done
   fi
-  
+
   if [[ ! -z ${NODE_LOCAL_SSDS+x} ]]; then
     # The NODE_LOCAL_SSDS check below fixes issue #49171
     # Some versions of seq will count down from 1 if "seq 0" is specified
@@ -1486,7 +1487,7 @@ function create-node-template() {
       done
     fi
   fi
-  
+
 
   local network=$(make-gcloud-network-argument \
     "${NETWORK_PROJECT}" \