diff --git a/src/cmd/linuxkit/gcp.go b/src/cmd/linuxkit/gcp.go
index 18d217d13..a315de50b 100644
--- a/src/cmd/linuxkit/gcp.go
+++ b/src/cmd/linuxkit/gcp.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ func (g GCPClient) UploadFile(src, dst, bucketName string, public bool) error {
 }
 
 // CreateImage creates a GCP image using the a source from Google Storage
-func (g GCPClient) CreateImage(name, storageURL, family string, replace bool) error {
+func (g GCPClient) CreateImage(name, storageURL, family string, nested, replace bool) error {
 	if replace {
 		if err := g.DeleteImage(name); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ func (g GCPClient) CreateImage(name, storageURL, family string, replace bool) er
 		imgObj.Family = family
 	}
 
+	if nested {
+		imgObj.Licenses = []string{"projects/vm-options/global/licenses/enable-vmx"}
+	}
+
 	op, err := g.compute.Images.Insert(g.projectName, imgObj).Do()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -178,7 +182,7 @@ func (g GCPClient) DeleteImage(name string) error {
 }
 
 // CreateInstance creates and starts an instance on GCP
-func (g GCPClient) CreateInstance(name, image, zone, machineType string, disks Disks, replace bool) error {
+func (g GCPClient) CreateInstance(name, image, zone, machineType string, disks Disks, nested, replace bool) error {
 	if replace {
 		if err := g.DeleteInstance(name, zone, true); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -262,6 +266,11 @@ func (g GCPClient) CreateInstance(name, image, zone, machineType string, disks D
 		},
 	}
 
+	if nested {
+		// TODO(rn): We could/should check here if the image has nested virt enabled
+		instanceObj.MinCpuPlatform = "Intel Haswell"
+	}
+
 	// Don't wait for operation to complete!
 	// A headstart is needed as by the time we've polled for this event to be
 	// completed, the instance may have already terminated
diff --git a/src/cmd/linuxkit/push_gcp.go b/src/cmd/linuxkit/push_gcp.go
index 20c74cb4a..826c86da1 100644
--- a/src/cmd/linuxkit/push_gcp.go
+++ b/src/cmd/linuxkit/push_gcp.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ func pushGcp(args []string) {
 	publicFlag := flags.Bool("public", false, "Select if file on GCS should be public. *Optional*")
 	familyFlag := flags.String("family", "", "GCP Image Family. A group of images where the family name points to the most recent image. *Optional*")
 	nameFlag := flags.String("img-name", "", "Overrides the name used to identify the file in Google Storage and the VM image. Defaults to the base of 'path' with the '.img.tar.gz' suffix removed")
+	nestedVirt := flags.Bool("nested-virt", false, "Enabled nested virtualization for the image")
 
 	if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal("Unable to parse args")
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ func pushGcp(args []string) {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Error copying to Google Storage: %v", err)
 	}
-	err = client.CreateImage(name, "https://storage.googleapis.com/"+bucket+"/"+name+suffix, family, true)
+	err = client.CreateImage(name, "https://storage.googleapis.com/"+bucket+"/"+name+suffix, family, *nestedVirt, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Error creating Google Compute Image: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/src/cmd/linuxkit/run_gcp.go b/src/cmd/linuxkit/run_gcp.go
index ef19acd75..1e7c2a820 100644
--- a/src/cmd/linuxkit/run_gcp.go
+++ b/src/cmd/linuxkit/run_gcp.go
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ func runGcp(args []string) {
 	flags.Var(&disks, "disk", "Disk config, may be repeated. [file=]diskName[,size=1G]")
 
 	skipCleanup := flags.Bool("skip-cleanup", false, "Don't remove images or VMs")
+	nestedVirt := flags.Bool("nested-virt", false, "Enabled nested virtualization")
 
 	if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal("Unable to parse args")
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ func runGcp(args []string) {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to connect to GCP")
 	}
 
-	if err = client.CreateInstance(name, name, zone, machine, disks, true); err != nil {
+	if err = client.CreateInstance(name, name, zone, machine, disks, *nestedVirt, true); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}