diff --git a/docs/releases/1.17-NOTES.md b/docs/releases/1.17-NOTES.md
index 22fe3749c0f39..62b94f2a1d6d9 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.17-NOTES.md
+++ b/docs/releases/1.17-NOTES.md
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@
 
 * Support for the "Legacy" etcd provider has been deprecated. It will not be supported for Kubernetes 1.18 or later. To migrate to the default "Manager" etcd provider see the [etcd migration documentation](../etcd3-migration.md).
 
+* The default StorageClass `gp2` prior to Kops 1.17.0 is no longer the default, replaced by StorageClass `kops-ssd-1-17`.
+
 # Known Issues
 
 * Kops 1.17.0-beta.1 included an update for AWS IAM Authenticator to 0.5.0.
@@ -79,6 +81,11 @@
   The workaround is to specify the old 0.4.0 image with `spec.authentication.aws.image=602401143452.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon/aws-iam-authenticator:v0.4.0`.
   For the 1.17.0 release, this change was rolled back, and the AWS IAM authenticator defaults to version 0.4.0
 
+* Kops 1.17.0 includes a new StorageClass `kops-ssd-1-17` which is set as the default via the annotation `"storageclass.beta.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"`.
+  If you have modified the previous `gp2` StorageClass, it could conflict with the defaulting behavior.
+  To resolve, patch the `gp2` StorageClass to have the annotation `"storageclass.beta.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"false"`, which aligns with a patch to Kops 1.17.1 as well.
+  `kubectl patch storageclass.storage.k8s.io/gp2 --patch '{"metadata": {"annotations": {"storageclass.beta.kubernetes.io/is-default-class": "false"}}}'`
+
 # Full change list since 1.16.0 release
 
 ## 1.16.0-alpha.1 to 1.17.0-alpha.1
diff --git a/upup/models/bindata.go b/upup/models/bindata.go
index 4cc8d987d2a40..17709174a70f4 100644
--- a/upup/models/bindata.go
+++ b/upup/models/bindata.go
@@ -15604,6 +15604,8 @@ apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
 kind: StorageClass
 metadata:
   name: gp2
+  annotations:
+    storageclass.beta.kubernetes.io/is-default-class: "false"
   labels:
     k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
 provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs
diff --git a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
index 48838ec17a92f..68386b89ab17e 100644
--- a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
+++ b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
 kind: StorageClass
 metadata:
   name: gp2
+  annotations:
+    storageclass.beta.kubernetes.io/is-default-class: "false"
   labels:
     k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
 provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/amazonvpc/manifest.yaml b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/amazonvpc/manifest.yaml
index d3205a5e6034e..403ee9a0d0ccf 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/amazonvpc/manifest.yaml
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/amazonvpc/manifest.yaml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ spec:
   - id: v1.15.0
     kubernetesVersion: '>=1.15.0'
     manifest: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
-    manifestHash: 5e829e8981470696bef2ed5e96839ea83cb36d24
+    manifestHash: 00cf6e46e25b736b2da93c6025ce482474d83904
     name: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/cilium/manifest.yaml b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/cilium/manifest.yaml
index 6deef0ca25a77..03fb5e0ddfeb1 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/cilium/manifest.yaml
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/cilium/manifest.yaml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ spec:
   - id: v1.15.0
     kubernetesVersion: '>=1.15.0'
     manifest: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
-    manifestHash: 5e829e8981470696bef2ed5e96839ea83cb36d24
+    manifestHash: 00cf6e46e25b736b2da93c6025ce482474d83904
     name: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/simple/manifest.yaml b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/simple/manifest.yaml
index a6e89756496b2..8a07c8d5ff0f5 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/simple/manifest.yaml
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/simple/manifest.yaml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ spec:
   - id: v1.15.0
     kubernetesVersion: '>=1.15.0'
     manifest: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
-    manifestHash: 5e829e8981470696bef2ed5e96839ea83cb36d24
+    manifestHash: 00cf6e46e25b736b2da93c6025ce482474d83904
     name: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/weave/manifest.yaml b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/weave/manifest.yaml
index ffe7b56594e93..6d852452abb0e 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/weave/manifest.yaml
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/cloudup/tests/bootstrapchannelbuilder/weave/manifest.yaml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ spec:
   - id: v1.15.0
     kubernetesVersion: '>=1.15.0'
     manifest: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io/v1.15.0.yaml
-    manifestHash: 5e829e8981470696bef2ed5e96839ea83cb36d24
+    manifestHash: 00cf6e46e25b736b2da93c6025ce482474d83904
     name: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: storage-aws.addons.k8s.io