diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_apiserver.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_apiserver.go
index ebf78268cccda..3906647057717 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_apiserver.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_apiserver.go
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@ func (b *KubeAPIServerBuilder) buildAnnotations() map[string]string {
 	if b.Cluster.Spec.API != nil && b.Cluster.Spec.API.DNS != nil {
 		annotations["dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/external"] = b.Cluster.Spec.MasterPublicName
 	}
+	annotations["scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod"] = ""
 
 	return annotations
 }
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_controller_manager.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_controller_manager.go
index b7b4d93ecaccb..e4f113b7ba7cd 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_controller_manager.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/kube_controller_manager.go
@@ -149,6 +149,9 @@ func (b *KubeControllerManagerBuilder) buildPod() (*v1.Pod, error) {
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Name:      "kube-controller-manager",
 			Namespace: "kube-system",
+			Annotations: map[string]string{
+				"scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/critical-pod": "",
+			},
 			Labels: map[string]string{
 				"k8s-app": "kube-controller-manager",
 			},