diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 603ab6b171b..4182e8ab38d 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -2154,7 +2154,7 @@ function start-kube-controller-manager {
   create-kubeconfig "kube-controller-manager" "${KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TOKEN}"
   prepare-log-file /var/log/kube-controller-manager.log "${KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_RUNASUSER:-0}"
   # Calculate variables and assemble the command line.
-  local params=("${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_LOG_LEVEL:-"--v=2"}" "${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS:-}" "${CLOUD_CONFIG_OPT}")
+  local params=("${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_LOG_LEVEL:-"--v=2"}" "${KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS:-}" "${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS:-}" "${CLOUD_CONFIG_OPT}")
   local config_path='/etc/srv/kubernetes/kube-controller-manager/kubeconfig'
   params+=("--use-service-account-credentials")
   params+=("--cloud-provider=${CLOUD_PROVIDER_FLAG:-external}")
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 278e29a3f87..d18836e0a9d 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -1438,6 +1438,11 @@ EOF
     if [ -n "${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS:-}" ]; then
       cat >>"$file" <<EOF
 CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS: $(yaml-quote "${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS}")
+EOF
+    fi
+    if [ -n "${KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS:-}" ]; then
+      cat >>"$file" <<EOF
+KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS: $(yaml-quote "${KUBE_CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_ARGS}")
 EOF
     fi
     if [ -n "${CONTROLLER_MANAGER_TEST_LOG_LEVEL:-}" ]; then