diff --git a/config/v1alpha1/types.go b/config/v1alpha1/types.go
index 7b29591..5399157 100644
--- a/config/v1alpha1/types.go
+++ b/config/v1alpha1/types.go
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ type KubeProxyConfiguration struct {
 	// metricsBindAddress is the IP address and port for the metrics server to serve on,
 	// defaulting to 127.0.0.1:10249 (set to 0.0.0.0 for all interfaces)
 	MetricsBindAddress string `json:"metricsBindAddress"`
+	// bindAddressHardFail, if true, kube-proxy will treat failure to bind to a port as fatal and exit
+	BindAddressHardFail bool `json:"bindAddressHardFail"`
 	// enableProfiling enables profiling via web interface on /debug/pprof handler.
 	// Profiling handlers will be handled by metrics server.
 	EnableProfiling bool `json:"enableProfiling"`