diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index abbea1620c0..7732af00022 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -1004,6 +1004,9 @@ function start-kube-apiserver {
     params+=" --kubelet-client-certificate=${APISERVER_CLIENT_CERT_PATH}"
     params+=" --kubelet-client-key=${APISERVER_CLIENT_KEY_PATH}"
   fi
+  if [[ -n "${SERVICEACCOUNT_CERT_PATH:-}" ]]; then
+    params+=" --service-account-key-file=${SERVICEACCOUNT_CERT_PATH}"
+  fi
   params+=" --token-auth-file=/etc/srv/kubernetes/known_tokens.csv"
   if [[ -n "${KUBE_PASSWORD:-}" && -n "${KUBE_USER:-}" ]]; then
     params+=" --basic-auth-file=/etc/srv/kubernetes/basic_auth.csv"