diff --git a/cluster/addons/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml.in b/cluster/addons/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml.in
index 343e994ee38..6b30b328261 100644
--- a/cluster/addons/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml.in
+++ b/cluster/addons/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml.in
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ spec:
             cpu: "200m"
             memory: "100Mi"
           requests:
-            cpu: "50m"
+            cpu: "20m"
             memory: "20Mi"
         volumeMounts:
         - name: log
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index 2abf41882f9..3e9e3b1f5a9 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ CLUSTER_REGISTRY_DISK_TYPE_GCE="${CLUSTER_REGISTRY_DISK_TYPE_GCE:-pd-standard}"
 ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI="${KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-true}"
 
 # Optional: Install node problem detector.
-ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR:-false}"
+ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR:-true}"
 
 # Optional: Create autoscaler for cluster's nodes.
 ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 8153915ad63..7bfb4d1ab69 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ CLUSTER_REGISTRY_DISK_TYPE_GCE="${CLUSTER_REGISTRY_DISK_TYPE_GCE:-pd-standard}"
 ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI="${KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-true}"
 
 # Optional: Install node problem detector.
-ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR:-false}"
+ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR:-true}"
 
 # Optional: Create autoscaler for cluster's nodes.
 ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index d365e699f6f..a090d8bc579 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -750,6 +750,13 @@ function start-kube-addons {
   if [[ "${ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-}" == "true" ]]; then
     setup-addon-manifests "addons" "dashboard"
   fi
+  if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    setup-addon-manifests "addons" "node-problem-detector"
+    local -r node_problem_detector_file="${dst_dir}/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml"
+    mv "${dst_dir}/node-problem-detector/node-problem-detector.yaml.in" "${node_problem_detector_file}"
+    # Replace the salt configurations with variable values.
+    sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\['master_node'\] *}}@${MASTER_NAME}@g" "${node_problem_detector_file}"
+  fi
   if echo "${ADMISSION_CONTROL:-}" | grep -q "LimitRanger"; then
     setup-addon-manifests "admission-controls" "limit-range"
   fi