diff --git a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
index ac2acd8038..f55aacc91c 100644
--- a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
+++ b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
@@ -944,6 +944,9 @@ spec:
                   items:
                     type: string
                   type: array
+                eventTTL:
+                  description: Amount of time to retain Kubernetes events
+                  type: string
                 experimentalEncryptionProviderConfig:
                   description: ExperimentalEncryptionProviderConfig enables encryption
                     at rest for secrets.
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go b/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
index 6008f291ab..df54a79f8d 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/componentconfig.go
@@ -450,6 +450,9 @@ type KubeAPIServerConfig struct {
 
 	// CPURequest, cpu request compute resource for api server. Defaults to "150m"
 	CPURequest string `json:"cpuRequest,omitempty"`
+
+	// Amount of time to retain Kubernetes events
+	EventTTL *metav1.Duration `json:"eventTTL,omitempty" flag:"event-ttl"`
 }
 
 // KubeControllerManagerConfig is the configuration for the controller
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/componentconfig.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/componentconfig.go
index ab8178350e..19b9da1a9b 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/componentconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/componentconfig.go
@@ -450,6 +450,9 @@ type KubeAPIServerConfig struct {
 
 	// CPURequest, cpu request compute resource for api server. Defaults to "150m"
 	CPURequest string `json:"cpuRequest,omitempty"`
+
+	// Amount of time to retain Kubernetes events
+	EventTTL *metav1.Duration `json:"eventTTL,omitempty" flag:"event-ttl"`
 }
 
 // KubeControllerManagerConfig is the configuration for the controller
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
index e319c61e63..0b43c04b39 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.conversion.go
@@ -3231,6 +3231,7 @@ func autoConvert_v1alpha1_KubeAPIServerConfig_To_kops_KubeAPIServerConfig(in *Ku
 	out.ServiceAccountIssuer = in.ServiceAccountIssuer
 	out.APIAudiences = in.APIAudiences
 	out.CPURequest = in.CPURequest
+	out.EventTTL = in.EventTTL
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -3328,6 +3329,7 @@ func autoConvert_kops_KubeAPIServerConfig_To_v1alpha1_KubeAPIServerConfig(in *ko
 	out.ServiceAccountIssuer = in.ServiceAccountIssuer
 	out.APIAudiences = in.APIAudiences
 	out.CPURequest = in.CPURequest
+	out.EventTTL = in.EventTTL
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 147ee56c97..713bea1939 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -2004,6 +2004,11 @@ func (in *KubeAPIServerConfig) DeepCopyInto(out *KubeAPIServerConfig) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.EventTTL != nil {
+		in, out := &in.EventTTL, &out.EventTTL
+		*out = new(v1.Duration)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
index 98d54d18b7..6b264f7bfc 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/componentconfig.go
@@ -450,6 +450,9 @@ type KubeAPIServerConfig struct {
 
 	// CPURequest, cpu request compute resource for api server. Defaults to "150m"
 	CPURequest string `json:"cpuRequest,omitempty"`
+
+	// Amount of time to retain Kubernetes events
+	EventTTL *metav1.Duration `json:"eventTTL,omitempty" flag:"event-ttl"`
 }
 
 // KubeControllerManagerConfig is the configuration for the controller
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
index 40a5694a77..23fc14d5b1 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
@@ -3501,6 +3501,7 @@ func autoConvert_v1alpha2_KubeAPIServerConfig_To_kops_KubeAPIServerConfig(in *Ku
 	out.ServiceAccountIssuer = in.ServiceAccountIssuer
 	out.APIAudiences = in.APIAudiences
 	out.CPURequest = in.CPURequest
+	out.EventTTL = in.EventTTL
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -3598,6 +3599,7 @@ func autoConvert_kops_KubeAPIServerConfig_To_v1alpha2_KubeAPIServerConfig(in *ko
 	out.ServiceAccountIssuer = in.ServiceAccountIssuer
 	out.APIAudiences = in.APIAudiences
 	out.CPURequest = in.CPURequest
+	out.EventTTL = in.EventTTL
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 9be776681e..527cb5f600 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -2075,6 +2075,11 @@ func (in *KubeAPIServerConfig) DeepCopyInto(out *KubeAPIServerConfig) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.EventTTL != nil {
+		in, out := &in.EventTTL, &out.EventTTL
+		*out = new(v1.Duration)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 2b9deb8a11..d5b2005e58 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -2257,6 +2257,11 @@ func (in *KubeAPIServerConfig) DeepCopyInto(out *KubeAPIServerConfig) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.EventTTL != nil {
+		in, out := &in.EventTTL, &out.EventTTL
+		*out = new(v1.Duration)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/flagbuilder/buildflags_test.go b/pkg/flagbuilder/buildflags_test.go
index 0ba474a370..57fac29cac 100644
--- a/pkg/flagbuilder/buildflags_test.go
+++ b/pkg/flagbuilder/buildflags_test.go
@@ -220,6 +220,12 @@ func TestBuildAPIServerFlags(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			Expected: "--authorization-webhook-cache-unauthorized-ttl=10s --insecure-port=0 --secure-port=0",
 		},
+		{
+			Config: &kops.KubeAPIServerConfig{
+				EventTTL: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 3 * time.Hour},
+			},
+			Expected: "--event-ttl=3h0m0s --insecure-port=0 --secure-port=0",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range grid {