diff --git a/examples/python/provider/Pulumi.yaml b/examples/python/provider/Pulumi.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cf67a9181f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/python/provider/Pulumi.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name: provider
+description: A program that smoke-tests Kubernetes first-class providers
+runtime: python
diff --git a/examples/python/provider/__main__.py b/examples/python/provider/__main__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..149d7db0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/python/provider/__main__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Copyright 2016-2018, Pulumi Corporation.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+from os import path
+from pulumi import ResourceOptions
+from pulumi_kubernetes import Provider
+from pulumi_kubernetes.core.v1 import Pod
+
+kubeconfig_file = path.join(path.expanduser("~"), ".kube", "config")
+with open(kubeconfig_file) as f:
+    kubeconfig = f.read()
+
+my_k8s = Provider("myk8s", kubeconfig=kubeconfig)
+nginx = Pod("nginx", spec={
+    "containers": [{
+        "image": "nginx:1.7.9",
+        "name": "nginx",
+        "ports": [{
+            "container_port": 80,
+        }],
+    }],
+}, __opts__=ResourceOptions(provider=my_k8s))
diff --git a/examples/python/provider/requirements.txt b/examples/python/provider/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19f57885c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/python/provider/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pulumi>=0.16.10,<0.17.0
diff --git a/examples/python/python_test.go b/examples/python/python_test.go
index 0917d7de39..216fbcfeb0 100644
--- a/examples/python/python_test.go
+++ b/examples/python/python_test.go
@@ -141,3 +141,20 @@ func TestGuestbook(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 	integration.ProgramTest(t, &options)
 }
+
+// Smoke test for first-class Kubernetes providers.
+func TestProvider(t *testing.T) {
+	kubectx := os.Getenv("KUBERNETES_CONTEXT")
+	if kubectx == "" {
+		t.Skipf("Skipping test due to missing KUBERNETES_CONTEXT variable")
+	}
+
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
+		t.FailNow()
+	}
+	options := baseOptions.With(integration.ProgramTestOptions{
+		Dir: filepath.Join(cwd, "provider"),
+	})
+	integration.ProgramTest(t, &options)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/gen/python-templates/root__init__.py.mustache b/pkg/gen/python-templates/root__init__.py.mustache
index 3321a6190c..6c603bcdfd 100644
--- a/pkg/gen/python-templates/root__init__.py.mustache
+++ b/pkg/gen/python-templates/root__init__.py.mustache
@@ -8,3 +8,6 @@ __all__ = [
     "{{Group}}",
     {{/Groups}}
 ]
+
+# Expose the provider directly.
+from .provider import Provider
diff --git a/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/__init__.py b/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/__init__.py
index cda6d278b6..1c6e164588 100755
--- a/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/__init__.py
+++ b/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/__init__.py
@@ -26,3 +26,6 @@
     "settings",
     "storage",
 ]
+
+# Expose the provider directly.
+from .provider import Provider
diff --git a/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/provider.py b/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/provider.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e3d15929a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk/python/pulumi_kubernetes/provider.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import pulumi
+from . import tables
+
+class Provider(pulumi.ProviderResource):
+    """
+    The provider type for the kubernetes package.
+    """
+    def __init__(self,
+                 __name__,
+                 __opts__=None,
+                 cluster=None,
+                 context=None,
+                 kubeconfig=None,
+                 namespace=None):
+        """
+        Create a Provider resource with the given unique name, arguments, and options.
+
+        :param str __name__: The unique name of the resource.
+        :param pulumi.ResourceOptions __opts__: An optional bag of options that controls this resource's behavior.
+        :param str cluster: If present, the name of the kubeconfig cluster to use.
+        :param str context: If present, the name of the kubeconfig context to use.
+        :param str kubeconfig: The contents of a kubeconfig file. If this is set, this config will be used instead
+                               of $KUBECONFIG.
+        :param str namespace: If present, the namespace scope to use.
+        """
+        __props__ = {
+            "cluster": cluster,
+            "context": context,
+            "kubeconfig": kubeconfig,
+            "namespace": namespace,
+        }
+        super(Provider, self).__init__("kubernetes", __name__, __props__, __opts__)
diff --git a/sdk/python/setup.py b/sdk/python/setup.py
index 5142d1bbd4..d5d64e8160 100644
--- a/sdk/python/setup.py
+++ b/sdk/python/setup.py
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@ def readme():
       license='Apache-2.0',
       packages=find_packages(),
       install_requires=[
-          'pulumi>=0.16.4,<0.17.0'
+          'pulumi>=0.16.10,<0.17.0'
       ],
       zip_safe=False)