diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d29420c4a1339..74792a9e3efec 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ crossbuild: crossbuild-kops-linux-amd64 crossbuild-kops-linux-arm64 crossbuild-k
 .PHONY: nodeup-amd64 nodeup-arm64
 nodeup-amd64 nodeup-arm64: nodeup-%:
 	mkdir -p ${DIST}/linux/$*
-	GOOS=linux GOARCH=$* go build ${GCFLAGS} ${BUILDFLAGS} ${EXTRA_BUILDFLAGS} -o ${DIST}/linux/$*/nodeup ${LDFLAGS}"${EXTRA_LDFLAGS} -X k8s.io/kops.Version=${VERSION} -X k8s.io/kops.GitVersion=${GITSHA}" k8s.io/kops/cmd/nodeup
+	GOEXPERIMENT=greenteagc GOOS=linux GOARCH=$* go build ${GCFLAGS} ${BUILDFLAGS} ${EXTRA_BUILDFLAGS} -o ${DIST}/linux/$*/nodeup ${LDFLAGS}"${EXTRA_LDFLAGS} -X k8s.io/kops.Version=${VERSION} -X k8s.io/kops.GitVersion=${GITSHA}" k8s.io/kops/cmd/nodeup
 
 .PHONY: nodeup
 nodeup: nodeup-amd64