diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index dc041a75b5..f29a877c2b 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ ADMISSION_CONTROL=NamespaceLifecycle,LimitRanger,ServiceAccount,PersistentVolume
 KUBE_UP_AUTOMATIC_CLEANUP=${KUBE_UP_AUTOMATIC_CLEANUP:-false}
 
 # Storage backend. 'etcd2' supported, 'etcd3' experimental.
-STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-etcd2}
+STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}
 
 # Networking plugin specific settings.
 NETWORK_PROVIDER="${NETWORK_PROVIDER:-kubenet}" # none, opencontrail, kubenet
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 45de3f442b..c6dfa863ce 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ KUBE_UP_AUTOMATIC_CLEANUP=${KUBE_UP_AUTOMATIC_CLEANUP:-false}
 TEST_CLUSTER="${TEST_CLUSTER:-true}"
 
 # Storage backend. 'etcd2' supported, 'etcd3' experimental.
-STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-etcd2}
+STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}
 
 # OpenContrail networking plugin specific settings
 NETWORK_PROVIDER="${NETWORK_PROVIDER:-kubenet}" # none, opencontrail, kubenet
diff --git a/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh b/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
index cb827c2ed5..968258edd8 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
@@ -443,7 +443,6 @@ dns_replicas: '$(echo "$DNS_REPLICAS" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 dns_server: '$(echo "$DNS_SERVER_IP" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 dns_domain: '$(echo "$DNS_DOMAIN" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 admission_control: '$(echo "$ADMISSION_CONTROL" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
-storage_backend: '$(echo "$STORAGE_BACKEND" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 network_provider: '$(echo "$NETWORK_PROVIDER" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 prepull_e2e_images: '$(echo "$PREPULL_E2E_IMAGES" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 hairpin_mode: '$(echo "$HAIRPIN_MODE" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
@@ -460,6 +459,11 @@ kube_uid: '$(echo "${KUBE_UID}" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 initial_etcd_cluster: '$(echo "${INITIAL_ETCD_CLUSTER:-}" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 hostname: $(hostname -s)
 EOF
+    if [ -n "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" ]; then
+      cat <<EOF >>/srv/salt-overlay/pillar/cluster-params.sls
+storage_backend: '$(echo "$STORAGE_BACKEND" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
+EOF
+    fi
     if [ -n "${ADMISSION_CONTROL:-}" ] && [ ${ADMISSION_CONTROL} == *"ImagePolicyWebhook"* ]; then
       cat <<EOF >>/srv/salt-overlay/pillar/cluster-params.sls
 admission-control-config-file: /etc/admission_controller.config
diff --git a/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh b/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
index a4f68be4fe..c29398d721 100644
--- a/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ TERMINATED_POD_GC_THRESHOLD=${TERMINATED_POD_GC_THRESHOLD:-100}
 ETCD_IMAGE="${TEST_ETCD_IMAGE:-}"
 ETCD_VERSION="${TEST_ETCD_VERSION:-}"
 # Storage backend. 'etcd2' supported, 'etcd3' experimental.
-STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-etcd2}
+STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}
 
 # Default Log level for all components in test clusters and variables to override it in specific components.
 TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL="${TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL:---v=2}"