diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 8208859b6d6..efee08f25e4 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -2899,6 +2899,7 @@ EOF
   cat > "${config_path}" <<EOF
 # Kubernetes doesn't use containerd restart manager.
 disabled_plugins = ["restart"]
+oom_score = -999
 
 [debug]
   level = "${CONTAINERD_LOG_LEVEL:-"info"}"