diff --git a/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark.go b/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark.go
index e2cc35bba..e1479e917 100755
--- a/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark.go
+++ b/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark.go
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ func (sparkResourceHandler) BuildResource(ctx context.Context, taskCtx pluginsCo
 		sparkConfig["spark.kubernetes.executor.limit.cores"] = sparkConfig["spark.executor.cores"]
 	}
 	sparkConfig["spark.kubernetes.executor.podNamePrefix"] = taskCtx.TaskExecutionMetadata().GetTaskExecutionID().GetGeneratedName()
+	sparkConfig["spark.kubernetes.driverEnv.FLYTE_START_TIME"] = strconv.FormatInt(time.Now().UnixNano()/1000000, 10)
 
 	// Add driver/executor defaults to CRD Driver/Executor Spec as well.
 	cores, err := strconv.Atoi(sparkConfig["spark.driver.cores"])
diff --git a/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark_test.go b/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark_test.go
index f538b8ed6..0d8a3409f 100755
--- a/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark_test.go
+++ b/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/spark/spark_test.go
@@ -372,6 +372,7 @@ func TestBuildResourceSpark(t *testing.T) {
 
 	assert.Equal(t, dummySparkConf["spark.driver.cores"], sparkApp.Spec.SparkConf["spark.kubernetes.driver.limit.cores"])
 	assert.Equal(t, dummySparkConf["spark.executor.cores"], sparkApp.Spec.SparkConf["spark.kubernetes.executor.limit.cores"])
+	assert.Greater(t, len(sparkApp.Spec.SparkConf["spark.kubernetes.driverEnv.FLYTE_START_TIME"]), 1)
 
 	assert.Equal(t, len(sparkApp.Spec.Driver.EnvVars["FLYTE_MAX_ATTEMPTS"]), 1)