diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 76753386e..4013337be 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ var nodeName string
 var operatingSystem string
 var provider string
 var providerConfig string
+var taintKey string
 var disableTaint bool
 
 // RootCmd represents the base command when called without any subcommands
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ backend implementation allowing users to create kubernetes nodes without running
 This allows users to schedule kubernetes workloads on nodes that aren't running Kubernetes.`,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		fmt.Println(kubeConfig)
-		f, err := vkubelet.New(nodeName, operatingSystem, kubeNamespace, kubeConfig, provider, providerConfig, disableTaint)
+		f, err := vkubelet.New(nodeName, operatingSystem, kubeNamespace, kubeConfig, provider, providerConfig, taintKey, disableTaint)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Fatal(err)
 		}
@@ -84,6 +85,8 @@ func init() {
 	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&provider, "provider", "", "cloud provider")
 	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&disableTaint, "disable-taint", false, "disable the virtual-kubelet node taint")
 	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&providerConfig, "provider-config", "", "cloud provider configuration file")
+	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&taintKey, "taint", "", "Set node taint key")
+	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().MarkDeprecated("taint", "Taint key should now be configured using the VK_TAINT_KEY environment variable")
 
 	// Cobra also supports local flags, which will only run
 	// when this action is called directly.
diff --git a/vkubelet/vkubelet.go b/vkubelet/vkubelet.go
index d2523405c..a1480702d 100644
--- a/vkubelet/vkubelet.go
+++ b/vkubelet/vkubelet.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func getEnv(key, defaultValue string) string {
 }
 
 // New creates a new virtual-kubelet server.
-func New(nodeName, operatingSystem, namespace, kubeConfig, provider, providerConfig string, disableTaint bool) (*Server, error) {
+func New(nodeName, operatingSystem, namespace, kubeConfig, provider, providerConfig, taintKey string, disableTaint bool) (*Server, error) {
 	var config *rest.Config
 
 	// Check if the kubeConfig file exists.
@@ -80,7 +80,13 @@ func New(nodeName, operatingSystem, namespace, kubeConfig, provider, providerCon
 
 	internalIP := os.Getenv("VKUBELET_POD_IP")
 
-	vkTaintKey := getEnv("VKUBELET_TAINT_KEY", "virtual-kubelet.io/provider")
+	var defaultTaintKey string
+	if taintKey != "" {
+		defaultTaintKey = taintKey
+	} else {
+		defaultTaintKey = "virtual-kubelet.io/provider"
+	}
+	vkTaintKey := getEnv("VKUBELET_TAINT_KEY", defaultTaintKey)
 	vkTaintValue := getEnv("VKUBELET_TAINT_VALUE", provider)
 	vkTaintEffectEnv := getEnv("VKUBELET_TAINT_EFFECT", "NoSchedule")
 	var vkTaintEffect corev1.TaintEffect