diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/addon-manager.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/addon-manager.nix
index 17f2dde31a71..abd9e99ba02a 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/addon-manager.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/addon-manager.nix
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ in
     systemd.services.kube-addon-manager = {
       description = "Kubernetes addon manager";
       wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
-      after = [ "kube-apiserver.service" ];
+      after = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" "node-online.target" ];
       environment.ADDON_PATH = "/etc/kubernetes/addons/";
       path = [ pkgs.gawk ];
       serviceConfig = {
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/apiserver.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/apiserver.nix
index 08f929060aa0..567d31f06ef7 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/apiserver.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/apiserver.nix
@@ -293,8 +293,9 @@ in
     in {
         systemd.services.kube-apiserver = {
           description = "Kubernetes APIServer Service";
-          wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
-          after = [ "network.target" ];
+          wantedBy = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+          after = [ "certmgr.service" ];
+          before = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
           serviceConfig = {
             Slice = "kubernetes.slice";
             ExecStart = ''${top.package}/bin/kube-apiserver \
@@ -459,7 +460,28 @@ in
       };
 
     }))
+    {
+      systemd.targets.kube-apiserver-online = {
+        wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+        before = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+      };
 
+      systemd.services.kube-apiserver-online = mkIf top.flannel.enable {
+        description = "apiserver control plane is online";
+        wantedBy = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+        after = [ "kube-scheduler.service" "kube-controller-manager.service" ];
+        before = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+        preStart = ''
+          ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.flannelClient; {
+            sleep = 3;
+            path = "/healthz";
+            cacert = top.caFile;
+            inherit cert key;
+          })}
+        '';
+        script = "echo apiserver control plane is online";
+      };
+    }
   ];
 
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/controller-manager.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/controller-manager.nix
index 27b28311adbc..20f471215dba 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/controller-manager.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/controller-manager.nix
@@ -116,8 +116,17 @@ in
 
     systemd.services.kube-controller-manager = {
       description = "Kubernetes Controller Manager Service";
-      wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+      wantedBy = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
       after = [ "kube-apiserver.service" ];
+      before = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+      preStart = ''
+        ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.controllerManagerClient; {
+          sleep = 1;
+          path = "/api";
+          cacert = top.caFile;
+          inherit cert key;
+        })}
+      '';
       serviceConfig = {
         RestartSec = "30s";
         Restart = "on-failure";
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/default.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/default.nix
index 375e33e91b5a..f1f544afc4d1 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/default.nix
@@ -73,6 +73,18 @@ let
     };
   };
 
+  mkWaitCurl = { address ? cfg.apiserverAddress, sleep ? 2, path ? "", args ? "-o /dev/null",
+                 cacert ? null, cert ? null, key ? null, }: ''
+    while ! ${pkgs.curl}/bin/curl --fail-early -fs \
+      ${if cacert != null then "--cacert ${cacert}" else ""} \
+      ${if cert != null then "--cert ${cert}" else ""} \
+      ${if key != null then "--key ${key}" else ""} \
+      ${address}${path} ${args} ; do
+        sleep ${toString sleep}
+        echo Waiting to be able to reach ${address}${path}
+    done
+  '';
+
   kubeConfigDefaults = {
     server = mkDefault cfg.kubeconfig.server;
     caFile = mkDefault cfg.kubeconfig.caFile;
@@ -162,6 +174,7 @@ in {
         inherit mkCert;
         inherit mkKubeConfig;
         inherit mkKubeConfigOptions;
+        inherit mkWaitCurl;
       };
       type = types.attrs;
     };
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/flannel.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/flannel.nix
index ef06acb6de39..4aa547c9d3e4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/flannel.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/flannel.nix
@@ -27,7 +27,12 @@ in
   };
 
   ###### implementation
-  config = mkIf cfg.enable {
+  config = mkIf cfg.enable (let
+    flannelBootstrapPaths = mkIf top.apiserver.enable [
+      top.pki.certs.clusterAdmin.cert
+      top.pki.certs.clusterAdmin.key
+    ];
+  in {
     services.flannel = {
 
       enable = mkDefault true;
@@ -48,8 +53,10 @@ in
       }];
     };
 
-    systemd.services."mk-docker-opts" = {
+    systemd.services.mk-docker-opts = {
       description = "Pre-Docker Actions";
+      wantedBy = [ "flannel.target" ];
+      before = [ "flannel.target" ];
       path = with pkgs; [ gawk gnugrep ];
       script = ''
         ${mkDockerOpts}/mk-docker-opts -d /run/flannel/docker
@@ -68,6 +75,17 @@ in
       };
     };
 
+    systemd.targets.flannel = {
+      wantedBy = [ "node-online.target" ];
+      before = [ "node-online.target" ];
+    };
+
+    systemd.services.flannel = {
+      wantedBy = [ "flannel.target" ];
+      after = [ "kubelet.target" ];
+      before = [ "flannel.target" ];
+    };
+
     systemd.services.docker = {
       environment.DOCKER_OPTS = "-b none";
       serviceConfig.EnvironmentFile = "-/run/flannel/docker";
@@ -93,44 +111,69 @@ in
     };
 
     # give flannel som kubernetes rbac permissions if applicable
-    services.kubernetes.addonManager.bootstrapAddons = mkIf ((storageBackend == "kubernetes") && (elem "RBAC" top.apiserver.authorizationMode)) {
+    systemd.services.flannel-rbac-bootstrap = mkIf (top.apiserver.enable && (elem "RBAC" top.apiserver.authorizationMode)) {
 
-      flannel-cr = {
-        apiVersion = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1";
-        kind = "ClusterRole";
-        metadata = { name = "flannel"; };
-        rules = [{
-          apiGroups = [ "" ];
-          resources = [ "pods" ];
-          verbs = [ "get" ];
-        }
-        {
-          apiGroups = [ "" ];
-          resources = [ "nodes" ];
-          verbs = [ "list" "watch" ];
-        }
-        {
-          apiGroups = [ "" ];
-          resources = [ "nodes/status" ];
-          verbs = [ "patch" ];
-        }];
-      };
+      wantedBy = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+      after = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+      before = [ "flannel.service" ];
+      path = with pkgs; [ kubectl ];
+      preStart = let
+        files = mapAttrsToList (n: v: pkgs.writeText "${n}.json" (builtins.toJSON v)) {
+          flannel-cr = {
+            apiVersion = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1";
+            kind = "ClusterRole";
+            metadata = { name = "flannel"; };
+            rules = [{
+              apiGroups = [ "" ];
+              resources = [ "pods" ];
+              verbs = [ "get" ];
+            }
+            {
+              apiGroups = [ "" ];
+              resources = [ "nodes" ];
+              verbs = [ "list" "watch" ];
+            }
+            {
+              apiGroups = [ "" ];
+              resources = [ "nodes/status" ];
+              verbs = [ "patch" ];
+            }];
+          };
 
-      flannel-crb = {
-        apiVersion = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1";
-        kind = "ClusterRoleBinding";
-        metadata = { name = "flannel"; };
-        roleRef = {
-          apiGroup = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io";
-          kind = "ClusterRole";
-          name = "flannel";
+          flannel-crb = {
+            apiVersion = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1";
+            kind = "ClusterRoleBinding";
+            metadata = { name = "flannel"; };
+            roleRef = {
+              apiGroup = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io";
+              kind = "ClusterRole";
+              name = "flannel";
+            };
+            subjects = [{
+              kind = "User";
+              name = "flannel-client";
+            }];
+          };
         };
-        subjects = [{
-          kind = "User";
-          name = "flannel-client";
-        }];
-      };
+      in ''
+        ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.clusterAdmin; {
+          path = "/";
+          cacert = top.caFile;
+          inherit cert key;
+        })}
 
+        kubectl -s ${top.apiserverAddress} --certificate-authority=${top.caFile} --client-certificate=${top.pki.certs.clusterAdmin.cert} --client-key=${top.pki.certs.clusterAdmin.key} apply -f ${concatStringsSep " \\\n -f " files}
+      '';
+      script = "echo Ok";
+      unitConfig.ConditionPathExists = flannelBootstrapPaths;
     };
-  };
+
+    systemd.paths.flannel-rbac-bootstrap = mkIf top.apiserver.enable {
+      wantedBy = [ "flannel-rbac-bootstrap.service" ];
+      pathConfig = {
+        PathExists = flannelBootstrapPaths;
+        PathChanged = flannelBootstrapPaths;
+      };
+    };
+  });
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/kubelet.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/kubelet.nix
index 86402cba7c48..b3f3c0365642 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/kubelet.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/kubelet.nix
@@ -252,8 +252,9 @@ in
 
       systemd.services.kubelet = {
         description = "Kubernetes Kubelet Service";
-        wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
-        after = [ "network.target" "docker.service" "kube-apiserver.service" ];
+        wantedBy = [ "kubelet.target" ];
+        after = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+        before = [ "kubelet.target" ];
         path = with pkgs; [ gitMinimal openssh docker utillinux iproute ethtool thin-provisioning-tools iptables socat ] ++ top.path;
         preStart = ''
           ${concatMapStrings (img: ''
@@ -325,6 +326,30 @@ in
         };
       };
 
+      systemd.services.docker.before = [ "kubelet.service" ];
+
+      systemd.services.node-online = {
+        wantedBy = [ "node-online.target" ];
+        after = [ "flannel.target" "kubelet.target" ];
+        before = [ "node-online.target" ];
+        # it is complicated. flannel needs kubelet to run the pause container before
+        # it discusses the node CIDR with apiserver and afterwards configures and restarts
+        # dockerd. Until then prevent creating any pods because they have to be recreated anyway
+        # because the network of docker0 has been changed by flannel.
+        script = let
+          docker-env = "/run/flannel/docker";
+          flannel-date = "stat --print=%Y ${docker-env}";
+          docker-date = "systemctl show --property=ActiveEnterTimestamp --value docker";
+        in ''
+          while ! test -f ${docker-env} ; do sleep 1 ; done
+          while test `${flannel-date}` -gt `date +%s --date="$(${docker-date})"` ; do
+            sleep 1
+          done
+        '';
+        serviceConfig.Type = "oneshot";
+        serviceConfig.Slice = "kubernetes.slice";
+      };
+
       # Allways include cni plugins
       services.kubernetes.kubelet.cni.packages = [pkgs.cni-plugins];
 
@@ -369,5 +394,16 @@ in
       };
     })
 
+    {
+      systemd.targets.kubelet = {
+        wantedBy = [ "node-online.target" ];
+        before = [ "node-online.target" ];
+      };
+
+      systemd.targets.node-online = {
+        wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+        before = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+      };
+    }
   ];
 }
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/pki.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/pki.nix
index 8ad17d4dfb4e..d08d7892bb53 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/pki.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/pki.nix
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ in
     cfsslCertPathPrefix = "${config.services.cfssl.dataDir}/cfssl";
     cfsslCert = "${cfsslCertPathPrefix}.pem";
     cfsslKey = "${cfsslCertPathPrefix}-key.pem";
+    cfsslPort = toString config.services.cfssl.port;
 
     certmgrPaths = [
       top.caFile
@@ -191,13 +192,39 @@ in
         chown cfssl "${cfsslAPITokenPath}" && chmod 400 "${cfsslAPITokenPath}"
       '')]);
 
+    systemd.targets.cfssl-online = {
+      wantedBy = [ "network-online.target" ];
+      after = [ "cfssl.service" "network-online.target" "cfssl-online.service" ];
+    };
+
+    systemd.services.cfssl-online = {
+      description = "Wait for ${remote} to be reachable.";
+      wantedBy = [ "cfssl-online.target" ];
+      before = [ "cfssl-online.target" ];
+      preStart = ''
+        ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl {
+          address = remote;
+          path = "/api/v1/cfssl/info";
+          args = "-kd '{}' -o /dev/null";
+        }}
+      '';
+      script = "echo Ok";
+      serviceConfig = {
+        TimeoutSec = "300";
+      };
+    };
+
     systemd.services.kube-certmgr-bootstrap = {
       description = "Kubernetes certmgr bootstrapper";
-      wantedBy = [ "certmgr.service" ];
-      after = [ "cfssl.target" ];
+      wantedBy = [ "cfssl-online.target" ];
+      after = [ "cfssl-online.target" ];
+      before = [ "certmgr.service" ];
       script = concatStringsSep "\n" [''
         set -e
 
+        mkdir -p $(dirname ${certmgrAPITokenPath})
+        mkdir -p $(dirname ${top.caFile})
+
         # If there's a cfssl (cert issuer) running locally, then don't rely on user to
         # manually paste it in place. Just symlink.
         # otherwise, create the target file, ready for users to insert the token
@@ -209,14 +236,18 @@ in
         fi
       ''
       (optionalString (cfg.pkiTrustOnBootstrap) ''
-        if [ ! -f "${top.caFile}" ] || [ $(cat "${top.caFile}" | wc -c) -lt 1 ]; then
-          ${pkgs.curl}/bin/curl --fail-early -f -kd '{}' ${remote}/api/v1/cfssl/info | \
-            ${pkgs.cfssl}/bin/cfssljson -stdout >${top.caFile}
+        if [ ! -s "${top.caFile}" ]; then
+          ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl {
+            address = "https://${top.masterAddress}:${cfsslPort}";
+            path = "/api/v1/cfssl/info";
+            args = "-kd '{}' -o - | ${pkgs.cfssl}/bin/cfssljson -stdout >${top.caFile}";
+          }}
         fi
       '')
       ];
       serviceConfig = {
-        RestartSec = "10s";
+        TimeoutSec = "300";
+        RestartSec = "1s";
         Restart = "on-failure";
       };
     };
@@ -254,6 +285,14 @@ in
       };
 
       systemd.services.certmgr = {
+        wantedBy = [ "cfssl-online.target" ];
+        after = [ "cfssl-online.target" "kube-certmgr-bootstrap.service" ];
+        preStart = ''
+          while ! test -s ${certmgrAPITokenPath} ; do
+            sleep 1
+            echo Waiting for ${certmgrAPITokenPath}
+          done
+        '';
         unitConfig.ConditionPathExists = certmgrPaths;
       };
 
@@ -289,6 +328,12 @@ in
           ''
             export KUBECONFIG=${clusterAdminKubeconfig}
             ${kubectl}/bin/kubectl apply -f ${concatStringsSep " \\\n -f " files}
+
+            ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.addonManager; {
+              path = "/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/serviceaccounts/default";
+              cacert = top.caFile;
+              inherit cert key;
+            })}
           '';
         })
         {
@@ -384,6 +429,14 @@ in
       };
 
       systemd.services.flannel = {
+        preStart = ''
+          ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.flannelClient; {
+            path = "/api/v1/nodes";
+            cacert = top.caFile;
+            inherit cert key;
+            args = "-o - | grep podCIDR >/dev/null";
+          })}
+        '';
         unitConfig.ConditionPathExists = flannelPaths;
       };
 
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/proxy.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/proxy.nix
index 83cd3e231000..073756d58abf 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/proxy.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/proxy.nix
@@ -49,8 +49,16 @@ in
     systemd.services.kube-proxy = {
       description = "Kubernetes Proxy Service";
       wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
-      after = [ "kube-apiserver.service" ];
+      after = [ "node-online.target" ];
+      before = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
       path = with pkgs; [ iptables conntrack_tools ];
+      preStart = ''
+        ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.kubeProxyClient; {
+          path = "/api/v1/nodes/${top.kubelet.hostname}";
+          cacert = top.caFile;
+          inherit cert key;
+        })}
+      '';
       serviceConfig = {
         Slice = "kubernetes.slice";
         ExecStart = ''${top.package}/bin/kube-proxy \
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/scheduler.nix b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/scheduler.nix
index 0305b9aefe59..d3302a15402b 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/scheduler.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/cluster/kubernetes/scheduler.nix
@@ -59,8 +59,17 @@ in
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
     systemd.services.kube-scheduler = {
       description = "Kubernetes Scheduler Service";
-      wantedBy = [ "kubernetes.target" ];
+      wantedBy = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
       after = [ "kube-apiserver.service" ];
+      before = [ "kube-apiserver-online.target" ];
+      preStart = ''
+        ${top.lib.mkWaitCurl (with top.pki.certs.schedulerClient; {
+          sleep = 1;
+          path = "/api";
+          cacert = top.caFile;
+          inherit cert key;
+        })}
+      '';
       serviceConfig = {
         Slice = "kubernetes.slice";
         ExecStart = ''${top.package}/bin/kube-scheduler \
diff --git a/nixos/tests/kubernetes/dns.nix b/nixos/tests/kubernetes/dns.nix
index 46bcb01a5265..e7db0a58ab61 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/kubernetes/dns.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/kubernetes/dns.nix
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ let
   singleNodeTest = {
     test = ''
       # prepare machine1 for test
+      $machine1->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("kubectl get node machine1.${domain} | grep -w Ready");
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("docker load < ${redisImage}");
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("kubectl create -f ${redisPod}");
@@ -102,6 +103,8 @@ let
       # Node token exchange
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("cp -f /var/lib/cfssl/apitoken.secret /tmp/shared/apitoken.secret");
       $machine2->waitUntilSucceeds("cat /tmp/shared/apitoken.secret | nixos-kubernetes-node-join");
+      $machine1->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
+      $machine2->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
 
       # prepare machines for test
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("kubectl get node machine2.${domain} | grep -w Ready");
diff --git a/nixos/tests/kubernetes/rbac.nix b/nixos/tests/kubernetes/rbac.nix
index 3ce7adcd0d71..967fe506004f 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/kubernetes/rbac.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/kubernetes/rbac.nix
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ let
 
   singlenode = base // {
     test = ''
+      $machine1->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
+
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("kubectl get node machine1.my.zyx | grep -w Ready");
 
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("docker load < ${kubectlImage}");
@@ -116,6 +118,8 @@ let
       # Node token exchange
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("cp -f /var/lib/cfssl/apitoken.secret /tmp/shared/apitoken.secret");
       $machine2->waitUntilSucceeds("cat /tmp/shared/apitoken.secret | nixos-kubernetes-node-join");
+      $machine1->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
+      $machine2->waitForUnit("kubernetes.target");
 
       $machine1->waitUntilSucceeds("kubectl get node machine2.my.zyx | grep -w Ready");