diff --git a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
index e86fbaa7c3..d237804485 100755
--- a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
+++ b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ CLOUD_PROVIDER=${CLOUD_PROVIDER:-""}
 CLOUD_CONFIG=${CLOUD_CONFIG:-""}
 FEATURE_GATES=${FEATURE_GATES:-"AllAlpha=true"}
 
+# enable swagger ui
+ENABLE_SWAGGER_UI=${ENABLE_SWAGGER_UI:-false}
+
 # RBAC Mode options
 ALLOW_ANY_TOKEN=${ALLOW_ANY_TOKEN:-false}
 ENABLE_RBAC=${ENABLE_RBAC:-false}
@@ -372,6 +375,11 @@ function start_apiserver {
     # This is the default dir and filename where the apiserver will generate a self-signed cert
     # which should be able to be used as the CA to verify itself
 
+    swagger_arg=""
+    if [[ "${ENABLE_SWAGGER_UI}" = true ]]; then
+      swagger_arg="--enable-swagger-ui=true "
+    fi
+
     anytoken_arg=""
     if [[ "${ALLOW_ANY_TOKEN}" = true ]]; then
       anytoken_arg="--insecure-allow-any-token "
@@ -422,7 +430,7 @@ function start_apiserver {
 
 
     APISERVER_LOG=/tmp/kube-apiserver.log
-    ${CONTROLPLANE_SUDO} "${GO_OUT}/hyperkube" apiserver ${anytoken_arg} ${authorizer_arg} ${priv_arg} ${runtime_config}\
+    ${CONTROLPLANE_SUDO} "${GO_OUT}/hyperkube" apiserver ${swagger_arg} ${anytoken_arg} ${authorizer_arg} ${priv_arg} ${runtime_config}\
       ${advertise_address} \
       --v=${LOG_LEVEL} \
       --cert-dir="${CERT_DIR}" \