diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index 3a87d385091..1c4d8b95cc4 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ NODE_DISK_TYPE=${NODE_DISK_TYPE:-pd-standard}
 NODE_DISK_SIZE=${NODE_DISK_SIZE:-100GB}
 REGISTER_MASTER_KUBELET=${REGISTER_MASTER:-true}
 PREEMPTIBLE_NODE=${PREEMPTIBLE_NODE:-false}
+PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER=${PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER:-false}
+
 
 OS_DISTRIBUTION=${KUBE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-debian}
 MASTER_IMAGE=${KUBE_GCE_MASTER_IMAGE:-container-vm-v20160127}
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 2887992736d..3c0f1b9c251 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ NODE_DISK_SIZE=${NODE_DISK_SIZE:-100GB}
 REGISTER_MASTER_KUBELET=${REGISTER_MASTER:-false}
 KUBE_APISERVER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=300
 PREEMPTIBLE_NODE=${PREEMPTIBLE_NODE:-false}
+PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER=${PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER:-false}
+
 
 OS_DISTRIBUTION=${KUBE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-debian}
 MASTER_IMAGE=${KUBE_GCE_MASTER_IMAGE:-container-vm-v20160127}
diff --git a/cluster/gce/coreos/helper.sh b/cluster/gce/coreos/helper.sh
index 15bd768194c..400cab9c335 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/coreos/helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/coreos/helper.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ function create-master-instance() {
   local address_opt=""
   [[ -n ${1:-} ]] && address_opt="--address ${1}"
 
+  local preemptible_master=""
+  if [[ "${PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    preemptible_master="--preemptible --maintenance-policy TERMINATE"
+  fi
+
   write-master-env
   gcloud compute instances create "${MASTER_NAME}" \
     ${address_opt} \
@@ -60,5 +65,6 @@ function create-master-instance() {
     --can-ip-forward \
     --metadata-from-file \
       "kube-env=${KUBE_TEMP}/master-kube-env.yaml,user-data=${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/coreos/master.yaml,configure-node=${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/coreos/configure-node.sh,configure-kubelet=${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/coreos/configure-kubelet.sh" \
-    --disk "name=${MASTER_NAME}-pd,device-name=master-pd,mode=rw,boot=no,auto-delete=no"
+    --disk "name=${MASTER_NAME}-pd,device-name=master-pd,mode=rw,boot=no,auto-delete=no" \
+      ${preemptible_master}
 }
diff --git a/cluster/gce/debian/helper.sh b/cluster/gce/debian/helper.sh
index 32a90f1cc10..946a3816008 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/debian/helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/debian/helper.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
 function create-master-instance {
   local address_opt=""
   [[ -n ${1:-} ]] && address_opt="--address ${1}"
+  local preemptible_master=""
+  if [[ "${PREEMPTIBLE_MASTER:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    preemptible_master="--preemptible --maintenance-policy TERMINATE"
+  fi
 
   write-master-env
   gcloud compute instances create "${MASTER_NAME}" \
@@ -48,7 +52,8 @@ function create-master-instance {
     --can-ip-forward \
     --metadata-from-file \
       "startup-script=${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh,kube-env=${KUBE_TEMP}/master-kube-env.yaml" \
-    --disk "name=${MASTER_NAME}-pd,device-name=master-pd,mode=rw,boot=no,auto-delete=no"
+    --disk "name=${MASTER_NAME}-pd,device-name=master-pd,mode=rw,boot=no,auto-delete=no" \
+    ${preemptible_master}
 }
 
 # $1: template name (required)