diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
index 0fbf7f87f8c7..6ab8ea4942d0 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ func NewCmdInit(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 			i, err := NewInit(cfgPath, internalcfg, skipPreFlight, skipTokenPrint)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(i.Validate(cmd))
+
+			// TODO: remove this warning in 1.9
+			if !cmd.Flags().Lookup("token-ttl").Changed {
+				fmt.Println("[kubeadm] WARNING: starting in 1.8, tokens expire after 24 hours by default (if you require a non-expiring token use --token-ttl 0)")
+			}
+
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(i.Run(out))
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/token.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/token.go
index e496709b8849..7e542f54644e 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/token.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/token.go
@@ -109,6 +109,12 @@ func NewCmdToken(out io.Writer, errW io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 			client, err := kubeconfigutil.ClientSetFromFile(kubeConfigFile)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 
+			// TODO: remove this warning in 1.9
+			if !tokenCmd.Flags().Lookup("ttl").Changed {
+				// sending this output to stderr s
+				fmt.Fprintln(errW, "[kubeadm] WARNING: starting in 1.8, tokens expire after 24 hours by default (if you require a non-expiring token use --ttl 0)")
+			}
+
 			err = RunCreateToken(out, client, token, tokenDuration, usages, description)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 		},