diff --git a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
index 8c0211036f025..f0be51f42c89a 100644
--- a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
+++ b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
@@ -347,6 +347,9 @@ spec:
                   expander:
                     description: 'Expander determines the strategy for which instance group gets expanded. Supported values: least-waste, most-pods, random. Default: least-waste'
                     type: string
+                  image:
+                    description: 'Image is the docker container used. Default: the latest supported image for the specified kubernetes version.'
+                    type: string
                   scaleDownUtilizationThreshold:
                     description: 'ScaleDownUtilizationThreshold determines the utilization threshold for node scale-down. Default: 0.5'
                     type: string
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go b/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
index 4e4792ee45cc1..2f00d5cbda082 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
@@ -780,6 +780,9 @@ type ClusterAutoscalerConfig struct {
 	// SkipNodesWithLocalStorage makes cluster autoscaler skip scale-down of nodes with local storage.
 	// Default: true
 	SkipNodesWithLocalStorage *bool `json:"skipNodesWithLocalStorage,omitempty"`
+	// Image is the docker container used.
+	// Default: the latest supported image for the specified kubernetes version.
+	Image *string `json:"image,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // HasAdmissionController checks if a specific admission controller is enabled
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
index b30421ff1473b..fd803fc3ecbb1 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
@@ -781,6 +781,9 @@ type ClusterAutoscalerConfig struct {
 	// SkipNodesWithLocalStorage makes cluster autoscaler skip scale-down of nodes with local storage.
 	// Default: true
 	SkipNodesWithLocalStorage *bool `json:"skipNodesWithLocalStorage,omitempty"`
+	// Image is the docker container used.
+	// Default: the latest supported image for the specified kubernetes version.
+	Image *string `json:"image,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // HasAdmissionController checks if a specific admission controller is enabled
diff --git a/pkg/model/components/clusterautoscaler.go b/pkg/model/components/clusterautoscaler.go
index 12cebbcdcbae9..aac4b7d2e30ef 100644
--- a/pkg/model/components/clusterautoscaler.go
+++ b/pkg/model/components/clusterautoscaler.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package components
 
 import (
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/apis/kops"
+	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/apis/kops/util"
 	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi"
 	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi/loader"
 )
@@ -36,6 +37,27 @@ func (b *ClusterAutoscalerOptionsBuilder) BuildOptions(o interface{}) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	if cas.Image == nil {
+		tag := "latest"
+		parsed, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(clusterSpec.KubernetesVersion)
+		if err == nil {
+			switch parsed.Minor {
+			case 19:
+				tag = "v1.19.0"
+			case 18:
+				tag = "v1.18.2"
+			case 17:
+				tag = "v1.17.3"
+			case 16:
+				tag = "v1.16.6"
+			case 15:
+				tag = "v1.15.7"
+			}
+		}
+
+		cas.Image = fi.String("k8s.gcr.io/autoscaling/cluster-autoscaler:" + tag)
+	}
+
 	if cas.Expander == nil {
 		cas.Expander = fi.String("random")
 	}
@@ -48,5 +70,6 @@ func (b *ClusterAutoscalerOptionsBuilder) BuildOptions(o interface{}) error {
 	if cas.SkipNodesWithSystemPods == nil {
 		cas.SkipNodesWithSystemPods = fi.Bool(true)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/upup/models/bindata.go b/upup/models/bindata.go
index 0f8dfe167ee4b..16c0bca7b3f96 100644
--- a/upup/models/bindata.go
+++ b/upup/models/bindata.go
@@ -999,7 +999,7 @@ spec:
       nodeSelector:
         node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
       containers:
-        - image: k8s.gcr.io/autoscaling/cluster-autoscaler:{{ ClusterAutoscalerTag }}
+        - image: {{ .ClusterAutoscaler.Image }}
           name: cluster-autoscaler
           resources:
             limits:
diff --git a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/cluster-autoscaler.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.15.yaml.template b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/cluster-autoscaler.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.15.yaml.template
index ec9ae588a7870..0cd4c5ce8281b 100644
--- a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/cluster-autoscaler.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.15.yaml.template
+++ b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/cluster-autoscaler.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.15.yaml.template
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ spec:
       nodeSelector:
         node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
       containers:
-        - image: k8s.gcr.io/autoscaling/cluster-autoscaler:{{ ClusterAutoscalerTag }}
+        - image: {{ .ClusterAutoscaler.Image }}
           name: cluster-autoscaler
           resources:
             limits:
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/template_functions.go b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/template_functions.go
index 4039c944f3028..2826318c82290 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/template_functions.go
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/template_functions.go
@@ -127,7 +127,6 @@ func (tf *TemplateFunctions) AddTo(dest template.FuncMap, secretStore fi.SecretS
 
 	// will return openstack external ccm image location for current kubernetes version
 	dest["OpenStackCCMTag"] = tf.OpenStackCCMTag
-	dest["ClusterAutoscalerTag"] = tf.ClusterAutoscalerTag
 	dest["ProxyEnv"] = tf.ProxyEnv
 
 	dest["KopsSystemEnv"] = tf.KopsSystemEnv
@@ -539,23 +538,3 @@ func (tf *TemplateFunctions) GetNodeInstanceGroups() map[string]kops.InstanceGro
 	}
 	return nodegroups
 }
-
-func (tf *TemplateFunctions) ClusterAutoscalerTag() (tag string) {
-	tag = "latest"
-	parsed, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(tf.Cluster.Spec.KubernetesVersion)
-	if err == nil {
-		switch parsed.Minor {
-		case 19:
-			tag = "v1.19.0"
-		case 18:
-			tag = "v1.18.2"
-		case 17:
-			tag = "v1.17.3"
-		case 16:
-			tag = "v1.16.6"
-		case 15:
-			tag = "v1.15.7"
-		}
-	}
-	return tag
-}