diff --git a/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet.go b/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet.go
index 173dd49da..df5b6cfae 100644
--- a/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func setKubeletConfig(cs *api.ContainerService) {
 		"--cluster-domain":                  "cluster.local",
 		"--network-plugin":                  "cni",
 		"--pod-infra-container-image":       cloudSpecConfig.KubernetesSpecConfig.KubernetesImageBase + KubeConfigs[o.OrchestratorVersion]["pause"],
-		"--max-pods":                        strconv.Itoa(DefaultKubernetesMaxPodsVNETIntegrated),
+		"--max-pods":                        strconv.Itoa(DefaultKubernetesMaxPods),
 		"--eviction-hard":                   DefaultKubernetesHardEvictionThreshold,
 		"--node-status-update-frequency":    KubeConfigs[o.OrchestratorVersion]["nodestatusfreq"],
 		"--image-gc-high-threshold":         strconv.Itoa(DefaultKubernetesGCHighThreshold),
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ func setKubeletConfig(cs *api.ContainerService) {
 		"--image-pull-progress-deadline":    "30m",
 	}
 
+	// Apply Azure CNI-specific --max-pods value
+	if o.KubernetesConfig.NetworkPlugin == NetworkPluginAzure {
+		defaultKubeletConfig["--max-pods"] = strconv.Itoa(DefaultKubernetesMaxPodsVNETIntegrated)
+	}
+
 	// If no user-configurable kubelet config values exists, use the defaults
 	setMissingKubeletValues(o.KubernetesConfig, defaultKubeletConfig)
 	addDefaultFeatureGates(o.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig, o.OrchestratorVersion, "", "")
@@ -65,7 +70,6 @@ func setKubeletConfig(cs *api.ContainerService) {
 		if o.KubernetesConfig.NetworkPolicy != NetworkPolicyCalico {
 			o.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig["--network-plugin"] = NetworkPluginKubenet
 		}
-		o.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig["--max-pods"] = strconv.Itoa(DefaultKubernetesMaxPods)
 	}
 
 	// We don't support user-configurable values for the following,
diff --git a/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet_test.go b/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet_test.go
index b2c51d78c..72945a47b 100644
--- a/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/acsengine/defaults-kubelet_test.go
@@ -175,6 +175,27 @@ func TestKubeletMaxPods(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("got unexpected '--max-pods' kubelet config value for NetworkPolicy=%s: %s",
 			NetworkPluginKubenet, k["--max-pods"])
 	}
+
+	// Test that user-overrides for --max-pods work as intended
+	cs = CreateMockContainerService("testcluster", defaultTestClusterVer, 3, 2, false)
+	cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.NetworkPlugin = NetworkPluginKubenet
+	cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig["--max-pods"] = "99"
+	setKubeletConfig(cs)
+	k = cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig
+	if k["--max-pods"] != "99" {
+		t.Fatalf("got unexpected '--max-pods' kubelet config value for NetworkPolicy=%s: %s",
+			NetworkPluginKubenet, k["--max-pods"])
+	}
+
+	cs = CreateMockContainerService("testcluster", defaultTestClusterVer, 3, 2, false)
+	cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.NetworkPlugin = NetworkPluginAzure
+	cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig["--max-pods"] = "99"
+	setKubeletConfig(cs)
+	k = cs.Properties.OrchestratorProfile.KubernetesConfig.KubeletConfig
+	if k["--max-pods"] != "99" {
+		t.Fatalf("got unexpected '--max-pods' kubelet config value for NetworkPolicy=%s: %s",
+			NetworkPluginKubenet, k["--max-pods"])
+	}
 }
 
 func TestKubeletCalico(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/api/convertertoagentpoolonlyapi.go b/pkg/api/convertertoagentpoolonlyapi.go
index df6e21920..2bb67319c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/convertertoagentpoolonlyapi.go
+++ b/pkg/api/convertertoagentpoolonlyapi.go
@@ -487,11 +487,10 @@ func convertV20180331AgentPoolOnlyAgentPoolProfile(agentPoolProfile *v20180331.A
 	var maxPods string
 	// agentPoolProfile.MaxPods is 0 if maxPods field is not provided in API model
 	if agentPoolProfile.MaxPods == nil {
-		// default is kubenet
-		if networkProfile == nil || networkProfile.NetworkPlugin == v20180331.Kubenet {
-			maxPods = DefaultKubernetesMaxPodsKubenet
-		} else {
+		if networkProfile != nil && networkProfile.NetworkPlugin == v20180331.Azure {
 			maxPods = DefaultKubernetesMaxPodsAzureCNI
+		} else {
+			maxPods = DefaultKubernetesMaxPodsKubenet
 		}
 	} else {
 		maxPods = strconv.Itoa(*agentPoolProfile.MaxPods)