diff --git a/docs/operations/rolling-update.md b/docs/operations/rolling-update.md
index 22ba50dcc383d..0789d044d4ceb 100644
--- a/docs/operations/rolling-update.md
+++ b/docs/operations/rolling-update.md
@@ -144,12 +144,14 @@ then creates any remaining surge instances.
 
 #### Disabling rolling updates
 
-Rolling updates may be disabled for an instance group by setting both `maxSurge` and `maxUnavailable`
-to `0`.
+Rolling updates may be disabled for an instance group by setting the `enabled` field
+to `false`.
 
 ```yaml
 spec:
   rollingUpdate:
-    maxSurge: 0
-    maxUnavailable: 0
+    enabled: false
 ```
+
+Nodes needing update will still be tainted. If `maxSurge` is nonzero, up to that many extra
+nodes will still be created.
diff --git a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
index 00f99c50264da..cb153b5d95ab5 100644
--- a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
+++ b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_clusters.yaml
@@ -3360,6 +3360,9 @@ spec:
                 description: RollingUpdate defines the default rolling-update settings
                   for instance groups
                 properties:
+                  enabled:
+                    description: Enabled enables rolling updates. Defaults to true.
+                    type: boolean
                   maxSurge:
                     anyOf:
                     - type: integer
@@ -3368,12 +3371,11 @@ spec:
                       can be created during the update. The value can be an absolute
                       number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired machines (for
                       example 10%). The absolute number is calculated from a percentage
-                      by rounding up. A value of 0 for both this and MaxUnavailable
-                      disables rolling updates. Has no effect on instance groups with
-                      role "Master". Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise. Example: when
-                      this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled up immediately
-                      when the rolling update starts, such that the total number of
-                      old and new nodes do not exceed 130% of desired nodes.'
+                      by rounding up. Has no effect on instance groups with role "Master".
+                      Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise. Example: when this is set
+                      to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled up immediately when
+                      the rolling update starts, such that the total number of old
+                      and new nodes do not exceed 130% of desired nodes.'
                     x-kubernetes-int-or-string: true
                   maxUnavailable:
                     anyOf:
@@ -3383,13 +3385,13 @@ spec:
                       can be unavailable during the update. The value can be an absolute
                       number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired nodes (for
                       example 10%). The absolute number is calculated from a percentage
-                      by rounding down. A value of 0 for both this and MaxSurge disables
-                      rolling updates. Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise defaults
-                      to 0. Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can
-                      be scaled down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when the
-                      rolling update starts. Once new nodes are ready, more old nodes
-                      can be drained, ensuring that the total number of nodes available
-                      at all times during the update is at least 70% of desired nodes.'
+                      by rounding down. Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise
+                      defaults to 0. Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup
+                      can be scaled down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when
+                      the rolling update starts. Once new nodes are ready, more old
+                      nodes can be drained, ensuring that the total number of nodes
+                      available at all times during the update is at least 70% of
+                      desired nodes.'
                     x-kubernetes-int-or-string: true
                 type: object
               secretStore:
diff --git a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_instancegroups.yaml b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_instancegroups.yaml
index 90c135011559c..3e3baa0a4e479 100644
--- a/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_instancegroups.yaml
+++ b/k8s/crds/kops.k8s.io_instancegroups.yaml
@@ -653,6 +653,9 @@ spec:
               rollingUpdate:
                 description: RollingUpdate defines the rolling-update behavior
                 properties:
+                  enabled:
+                    description: Enabled enables rolling updates. Defaults to true.
+                    type: boolean
                   maxSurge:
                     anyOf:
                     - type: integer
@@ -661,12 +664,11 @@ spec:
                       can be created during the update. The value can be an absolute
                       number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired machines (for
                       example 10%). The absolute number is calculated from a percentage
-                      by rounding up. A value of 0 for both this and MaxUnavailable
-                      disables rolling updates. Has no effect on instance groups with
-                      role "Master". Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise. Example: when
-                      this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled up immediately
-                      when the rolling update starts, such that the total number of
-                      old and new nodes do not exceed 130% of desired nodes.'
+                      by rounding up. Has no effect on instance groups with role "Master".
+                      Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise. Example: when this is set
+                      to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled up immediately when
+                      the rolling update starts, such that the total number of old
+                      and new nodes do not exceed 130% of desired nodes.'
                     x-kubernetes-int-or-string: true
                   maxUnavailable:
                     anyOf:
@@ -676,13 +678,13 @@ spec:
                       can be unavailable during the update. The value can be an absolute
                       number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired nodes (for
                       example 10%). The absolute number is calculated from a percentage
-                      by rounding down. A value of 0 for both this and MaxSurge disables
-                      rolling updates. Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise defaults
-                      to 0. Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can
-                      be scaled down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when the
-                      rolling update starts. Once new nodes are ready, more old nodes
-                      can be drained, ensuring that the total number of nodes available
-                      at all times during the update is at least 70% of desired nodes.'
+                      by rounding down. Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise
+                      defaults to 0. Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup
+                      can be scaled down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when
+                      the rolling update starts. Once new nodes are ready, more old
+                      nodes can be drained, ensuring that the total number of nodes
+                      available at all times during the update is at least 70% of
+                      desired nodes.'
                     x-kubernetes-int-or-string: true
                 type: object
               rootVolumeDeleteOnTermination:
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/cluster.go b/pkg/apis/kops/cluster.go
index ddf8b50ae0b8d..9b0d2e6310c81 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/cluster.go
@@ -695,11 +695,13 @@ type DNSControllerGossipConfig struct {
 }
 
 type RollingUpdate struct {
+	// Enabled enables rolling updates.
+	// Defaults to true.
+	Enabled *bool `json:"enabled,omitempty"`
 	// MaxUnavailable is the maximum number of nodes that can be unavailable during the update.
 	// The value can be an absolute number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired
 	// nodes (for example 10%).
 	// The absolute number is calculated from a percentage by rounding down.
-	// A value of 0 for both this and MaxSurge disables rolling updates.
 	// Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise defaults to 0.
 	// Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled
 	// down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when the rolling update
@@ -713,7 +715,6 @@ type RollingUpdate struct {
 	// The value can be an absolute number (for example 5) or a percentage of
 	// desired machines (for example 10%).
 	// The absolute number is calculated from a percentage by rounding up.
-	// A value of 0 for both this and MaxUnavailable disables rolling updates.
 	// Has no effect on instance groups with role "Master".
 	// Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise.
 	// Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/cluster.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/cluster.go
index ed4bb70d31bed..3b64e8c923a3a 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/cluster.go
@@ -590,11 +590,13 @@ type DNSControllerGossipConfig struct {
 }
 
 type RollingUpdate struct {
+	// Enabled enables rolling updates.
+	// Defaults to true.
+	Enabled *bool `json:"enabled,omitempty"`
 	// MaxUnavailable is the maximum number of nodes that can be unavailable during the update.
 	// The value can be an absolute number (for example 5) or a percentage of desired
 	// nodes (for example 10%).
 	// The absolute number is calculated from a percentage by rounding down.
-	// A value of 0 for both this and MaxSurge disables rolling updates.
 	// Defaults to 1 if MaxSurge is 0, otherwise defaults to 0.
 	// Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled
 	// down to 70% of desired nodes immediately when the rolling update
@@ -608,7 +610,6 @@ type RollingUpdate struct {
 	// The value can be an absolute number (for example 5) or a percentage of
 	// desired machines (for example 10%).
 	// The absolute number is calculated from a percentage by rounding up.
-	// A value of 0 for both this and MaxUnavailable disables rolling updates.
 	// Has no effect on instance groups with role "Master".
 	// Defaults to 1 on AWS, 0 otherwise.
 	// Example: when this is set to 30%, the InstanceGroup can be scaled
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
index 3aa6ef8aa4e52..35e722e563aed 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.conversion.go
@@ -5147,6 +5147,7 @@ func Convert_kops_RBACAuthorizationSpec_To_v1alpha2_RBACAuthorizationSpec(in *ko
 }
 
 func autoConvert_v1alpha2_RollingUpdate_To_kops_RollingUpdate(in *RollingUpdate, out *kops.RollingUpdate, s conversion.Scope) error {
+	out.Enabled = in.Enabled
 	out.MaxUnavailable = in.MaxUnavailable
 	out.MaxSurge = in.MaxSurge
 	return nil
@@ -5158,6 +5159,7 @@ func Convert_v1alpha2_RollingUpdate_To_kops_RollingUpdate(in *RollingUpdate, out
 }
 
 func autoConvert_kops_RollingUpdate_To_v1alpha2_RollingUpdate(in *kops.RollingUpdate, out *RollingUpdate, s conversion.Scope) error {
+	out.Enabled = in.Enabled
 	out.MaxUnavailable = in.MaxUnavailable
 	out.MaxSurge = in.MaxSurge
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 1374634f17ad8..5f43110f9b298 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/v1alpha2/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -3481,6 +3481,11 @@ func (in *RBACAuthorizationSpec) DeepCopy() *RBACAuthorizationSpec {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *RollingUpdate) DeepCopyInto(out *RollingUpdate) {
 	*out = *in
+	if in.Enabled != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Enabled, &out.Enabled
+		*out = new(bool)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	if in.MaxUnavailable != nil {
 		in, out := &in.MaxUnavailable, &out.MaxUnavailable
 		*out = new(intstr.IntOrString)
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation.go
index 494180f355b01..14789f19e55be 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation.go
@@ -1000,8 +1000,10 @@ func validateDockerConfig(config *kops.DockerConfig, fldPath *field.Path) field.
 
 func validateRollingUpdate(rollingUpdate *kops.RollingUpdate, fldpath *field.Path, onMasterInstanceGroup bool) field.ErrorList {
 	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
+	var err error
+	unavailable := 1
 	if rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable != nil {
-		unavailable, err := intstr.GetValueFromIntOrPercent(rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable, 1, false)
+		unavailable, err = intstr.GetValueFromIntOrPercent(rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable, 1, false)
 		if err != nil {
 			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldpath.Child("maxUnavailable"), rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable,
 				fmt.Sprintf("Unable to parse: %v", err)))
@@ -1021,6 +1023,9 @@ func validateRollingUpdate(rollingUpdate *kops.RollingUpdate, fldpath *field.Pat
 		} else if surge < 0 {
 			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldpath.Child("maxSurge"), rollingUpdate.MaxSurge, "Cannot be negative"))
 		}
+		if unavailable == 0 && surge == 0 {
+			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Forbidden(fldpath.Child("maxSurge"), "Cannot be zero if maxUnavailable is zero"))
+		}
 	}
 
 	return allErrs
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation_test.go
index 2d94659f0399d..a62871431beb7 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -711,6 +711,13 @@ func Test_Validate_RollingUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			OnMasterIG:     true,
 			ExpectedErrors: []string{"Forbidden::testField.maxSurge"},
 		},
+		{
+			Input: kops.RollingUpdate{
+				MaxUnavailable: intStr(intstr.FromInt(0)),
+				MaxSurge:       intStr(intstr.FromInt(0)),
+			},
+			ExpectedErrors: []string{"Forbidden::testField.maxSurge"},
+		},
 	}
 	for _, g := range grid {
 		errs := validateRollingUpdate(&g.Input, field.NewPath("testField"), g.OnMasterIG)
diff --git a/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 3502b2bf6efde..5bd1dc7665791 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/kops/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -3695,6 +3695,11 @@ func (in *RBACAuthorizationSpec) DeepCopy() *RBACAuthorizationSpec {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *RollingUpdate) DeepCopyInto(out *RollingUpdate) {
 	*out = *in
+	if in.Enabled != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Enabled, &out.Enabled
+		*out = new(bool)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	if in.MaxUnavailable != nil {
 		in, out := &in.MaxUnavailable, &out.MaxUnavailable
 		*out = new(intstr.IntOrString)
diff --git a/pkg/instancegroups/instancegroups.go b/pkg/instancegroups/instancegroups.go
index a4c94ead80f5d..d9a9828963c82 100644
--- a/pkg/instancegroups/instancegroups.go
+++ b/pkg/instancegroups/instancegroups.go
@@ -108,11 +108,6 @@ func (c *RollingUpdateCluster) rollingUpdateInstanceGroup(ctx context.Context, c
 	}
 	maxConcurrency := maxSurge + settings.MaxUnavailable.IntValue()
 
-	if maxConcurrency == 0 {
-		klog.Infof("Rolling updates for InstanceGroup %s are disabled", group.InstanceGroup.Name)
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	if group.InstanceGroup.Spec.Role == api.InstanceGroupRoleMaster && maxSurge != 0 {
 		// Masters are incapable of surging because they rely on registering themselves through
 		// the local apiserver. That apiserver depends on the local etcd, which relies on being
@@ -157,6 +152,11 @@ func (c *RollingUpdateCluster) rollingUpdateInstanceGroup(ctx context.Context, c
 		}
 	}
 
+	if !*settings.Enabled {
+		klog.Infof("Rolling updates for InstanceGroup %s are disabled", group.InstanceGroup.Name)
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	terminateChan := make(chan error, maxConcurrency)
 
 	for uIdx, u := range update {
diff --git a/pkg/instancegroups/rollingupdate_test.go b/pkg/instancegroups/rollingupdate_test.go
index 53ab1637981cc..661edf82fb698 100644
--- a/pkg/instancegroups/rollingupdate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/instancegroups/rollingupdate_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	kopsapi "k8s.io/kops/pkg/apis/kops"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/cloudinstances"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/validation"
+	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi"
 	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/awsup"
 )
 
@@ -800,9 +801,8 @@ func TestRollingUpdateDisabled(t *testing.T) {
 
 	c, cloud, cluster := getTestSetup()
 
-	zero := intstr.FromInt(0)
 	cluster.Spec.RollingUpdate = &kopsapi.RollingUpdate{
-		MaxUnavailable: &zero,
+		Enabled: fi.Bool(false),
 	}
 
 	groups := getGroupsAllNeedUpdate(c.K8sClient, cloud)
@@ -821,9 +821,8 @@ func TestRollingUpdateDisabledCloudonly(t *testing.T) {
 	c, cloud, cluster := getTestSetup()
 	c.CloudOnly = true
 
-	zero := intstr.FromInt(0)
 	cluster.Spec.RollingUpdate = &kopsapi.RollingUpdate{
-		MaxUnavailable: &zero,
+		Enabled: fi.Bool(false),
 	}
 
 	groups := getGroupsAllNeedUpdate(c.K8sClient, cloud)
@@ -836,6 +835,54 @@ func TestRollingUpdateDisabledCloudonly(t *testing.T) {
 	assertGroupInstanceCount(t, cloud, "bastion-1", 1)
 }
 
+type disabledSurgeTest struct {
+	autoscalingiface.AutoScalingAPI
+	t           *testing.T
+	mutex       sync.Mutex
+	numDetached int
+}
+
+func (m *disabledSurgeTest) DetachInstances(input *autoscaling.DetachInstancesInput) (*autoscaling.DetachInstancesOutput, error) {
+	m.mutex.Lock()
+	defer m.mutex.Unlock()
+
+	for _, id := range input.InstanceIds {
+		assert.NotContains(m.t, *id, "master")
+		m.numDetached++
+	}
+	return &autoscaling.DetachInstancesOutput{}, nil
+}
+
+func TestRollingUpdateDisabledSurge(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	c, cloud, cluster := getTestSetup()
+
+	disabledSurgeTest := &disabledSurgeTest{
+		AutoScalingAPI: cloud.MockAutoscaling,
+		t:              t,
+	}
+	cloud.MockAutoscaling = disabledSurgeTest
+	cloud.MockEC2 = &ec2IgnoreTags{EC2API: cloud.MockEC2}
+
+	one := intstr.FromInt(1)
+	cluster.Spec.RollingUpdate = &kopsapi.RollingUpdate{
+		Enabled:  fi.Bool(false),
+		MaxSurge: &one,
+	}
+
+	groups := getGroupsAllNeedUpdate(c.K8sClient, cloud)
+	err := c.RollingUpdate(ctx, groups, cluster, &kopsapi.InstanceGroupList{})
+	assert.NoError(t, err, "rolling update")
+
+	assertGroupInstanceCount(t, cloud, "node-1", 3)
+	assertGroupInstanceCount(t, cloud, "node-2", 3)
+	assertGroupInstanceCount(t, cloud, "master-1", 2)
+	assertGroupInstanceCount(t, cloud, "bastion-1", 1)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, disabledSurgeTest.numDetached)
+}
+
 // The concurrent update tests attempt to induce the following expected update sequence:
 //
 // (Only for surging "all need update" test, to verify the toe-dipping behavior)
diff --git a/pkg/instancegroups/settings.go b/pkg/instancegroups/settings.go
index 74f44e996507b..6ab455bceb634 100644
--- a/pkg/instancegroups/settings.go
+++ b/pkg/instancegroups/settings.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/intstr"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/apis/kops"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/featureflag"
+	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi"
 )
 
 func resolveSettings(cluster *kops.Cluster, group *kops.InstanceGroup, numInstances int) kops.RollingUpdate {
@@ -29,6 +30,9 @@ func resolveSettings(cluster *kops.Cluster, group *kops.InstanceGroup, numInstan
 	}
 
 	if def := cluster.Spec.RollingUpdate; def != nil {
+		if rollingUpdate.Enabled == nil {
+			rollingUpdate.Enabled = def.Enabled
+		}
 		if rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable == nil {
 			rollingUpdate.MaxUnavailable = def.MaxUnavailable
 		}
@@ -37,6 +41,10 @@ func resolveSettings(cluster *kops.Cluster, group *kops.InstanceGroup, numInstan
 		}
 	}
 
+	if rollingUpdate.Enabled == nil {
+		rollingUpdate.Enabled = fi.Bool(true)
+	}
+
 	if rollingUpdate.MaxSurge == nil {
 		val := intstr.FromInt(0)
 		if kops.CloudProviderID(cluster.Spec.CloudProvider) == kops.CloudProviderAWS && !featureflag.Spotinst.Enabled() {
diff --git a/pkg/instancegroups/settings_test.go b/pkg/instancegroups/settings_test.go
index 5fb2ef6049552..4bca2290cc916 100644
--- a/pkg/instancegroups/settings_test.go
+++ b/pkg/instancegroups/settings_test.go
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ func TestSettings(t *testing.T) {
 		defaultValue    interface{}
 		nonDefaultValue interface{}
 	}{
+		{
+			name:            "Enabled",
+			defaultValue:    true,
+			nonDefaultValue: false,
+		},
 		{
 			name:            "MaxUnavailable",
 			defaultValue:    intstr.FromInt(1),