diff --git a/upup/tools/generators/fitask/generator.go b/upup/tools/generators/fitask/generator.go
index 9fc1838601..0a4f083a77 100644
--- a/upup/tools/generators/fitask/generator.go
+++ b/upup/tools/generators/fitask/generator.go
@@ -28,7 +28,25 @@ type FitaskGenerator struct {
 
 var _ codegen.Generator = &FitaskGenerator{}
 
-const headerDef = `
+const fileHeaderDef = `/*
+Copyright 2016 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+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.
+*/
+
+`
+
+var preambleDef = `
 package {{.Package}}
 
 import (
@@ -44,6 +62,7 @@ const perTypeDef = `
 // JSON marshalling boilerplate
 type real{{.Name}} {{.Name}}
 
+// UnmarshalJSON implements conversion to JSON, supporitng an alternate specification of the object as a string
 func (o *{{.Name}}) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	var jsonName string
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &jsonName); err == nil {
@@ -61,16 +80,19 @@ func (o *{{.Name}}) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 
 var _ fi.HasName = &{{.Name}}{}
 
-func (e *{{.Name}}) GetName() *string {
-	return e.Name
+// GetName returns the Name of the object, implementing fi.HasName
+func (o *{{.Name}}) GetName() *string {
+	return o.Name
 }
 
-func (e *{{.Name}}) SetName(name string) {
-	e.Name = &name
+// SetName sets the Name of the object, implementing fi.SetName
+func (o *{{.Name}}) SetName(name string) {
+	o.Name = &name
 }
 
-func (e *{{.Name}}) String() string {
-	return fi.TaskAsString(e)
+// String is the stringer function for the task, producing readable output using fi.TaskAsString
+func (o *{{.Name}}) String() string {
+	return fi.TaskAsString(o)
 }
 `
 
@@ -80,8 +102,14 @@ func (g *FitaskGenerator) Init(parser *codegen.GoParser) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (g *FitaskGenerator) WriteHeader(w io.Writer) error {
-	t := template.Must(template.New("Header").Parse(headerDef))
+func (g *FitaskGenerator) WriteFileHeader(w io.Writer) error {
+	t := template.Must(template.New("FileHeader").Parse(fileHeaderDef))
+
+	return t.Execute(w, g)
+}
+
+func (g *FitaskGenerator) WritePreamble(w io.Writer) error {
+	t := template.Must(template.New("Preamble").Parse(preambleDef))
 
 	return t.Execute(w, g)
 }
diff --git a/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/generator.go b/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/generator.go
index e261495f58..18492b8330 100644
--- a/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/generator.go
+++ b/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/generator.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import "io"
 
 type Generator interface {
 	Init(parser *GoParser) error
-	WriteHeader(w io.Writer) error
+	WriteFileHeader(w io.Writer) error
+	WritePreamble(w io.Writer) error
 	WriteType(w io.Writer, typeName string) error
 }
diff --git a/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/main_helper.go b/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/main_helper.go
index b159476fdf..d06475861d 100644
--- a/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/main_helper.go
+++ b/upup/tools/generators/pkg/codegen/main_helper.go
@@ -86,9 +86,14 @@ func RunGenerator(key string, generator Generator) {
 
 	var b bytes.Buffer
 
+	err = generator.WriteFileHeader(&b)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error generating header: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	fmt.Fprintf(&b, "// Code generated by \"%q %s\"; DO NOT EDIT\n\n", key, strings.Join(os.Args[1:], " "))
 
-	err = generator.WriteHeader(&b)
+	err = generator.WritePreamble(&b)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("error generating header: %v", err)
 	}