diff --git a/docs/upgrades.md b/docs/upgrades.md
index ff9e5459d..52dccba42 100644
--- a/docs/upgrades.md
+++ b/docs/upgrades.md
@@ -403,3 +403,16 @@ Please note that **migrating container engines is not officially supported by Ku
 As of Kubespray 2.18.0, containerd is already the default container engine. If you have the chance, it is advisable and safer to reset and redeploy the entire cluster with a new container engine.
 
 * [Migrating from Docker to Containerd](upgrades/migrate_docker2containerd.md)
+
+## System upgrade
+
+If you want to upgrade the APT or YUM packages while the nodes are cordoned, you can use:
+
+```ShellSession
+ansible-playbook upgrade-cluster.yml -b -i inventory/sample/hosts.ini -e system_upgrade=true
+```
+
+Nodes will be rebooted when there are package upgrades (`system_upgrade_reboot: on-upgrade`).
+This can be changed to `always` or `never`.
+
+Note: Downloads will happen twice unless `system_upgrade_reboot` is `never`.
diff --git a/playbooks/upgrade_cluster.yml b/playbooks/upgrade_cluster.yml
index 5eccc56ba..272ec310f 100644
--- a/playbooks/upgrade_cluster.yml
+++ b/playbooks/upgrade_cluster.yml
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@
   roles:
     - { role: kubespray-defaults }
     - { role: upgrade/pre-upgrade, tags: pre-upgrade }
+    - { role: upgrade/system-upgrade, tags: system-upgrade }
+    - { role: download, tags: download, when: "system_upgrade and system_upgrade_reboot != 'never' and not skip_downloads" }
     - { role: kubernetes-apps/kubelet-csr-approver, tags: kubelet-csr-approver }
     - { role: container-engine, tags: "container-engine", when: deploy_container_engine }
     - { role: kubernetes/node, tags: node }
@@ -116,6 +118,8 @@
   roles:
     - { role: kubespray-defaults }
     - { role: upgrade/pre-upgrade, tags: pre-upgrade }
+    - { role: upgrade/system-upgrade, tags: system-upgrade }
+    - { role: download, tags: download, when: "system_upgrade and system_upgrade_reboot != 'never' and not skip_downloads" }
     - { role: container-engine, tags: "container-engine", when: deploy_container_engine }
     - { role: kubernetes/node, tags: node }
     - { role: kubernetes/kubeadm, tags: kubeadm }
diff --git a/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
index ec5b8e6a3..d32dd3a5a 100644
--- a/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -681,3 +681,6 @@ krew_root_dir: "/usr/local/krew"
 
 # sysctl_file_path to add sysctl conf to
 sysctl_file_path: "/etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf"
+
+system_upgrade: false
+system_upgrade_reboot: on-upgrade  # never, always
diff --git a/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/apt.yml b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/apt.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..992bbce44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/apt.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+- name: APT Dist-Upgrade
+  apt:
+    upgrade: dist
+    autoremove: true
+    dpkg_options: force-confold,force-confdef
+  register: apt_upgrade
+
+- name: Reboot after APT Dist-Upgrade  # noqa no-handler
+  when:
+  - apt_upgrade.changed or system_upgrade_reboot == 'always'
+  - system_upgrade_reboot != 'never'
+  reboot:
diff --git a/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/main.yml b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61561b145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+- name: APT upgrade
+  when:
+  - system_upgrade
+  - ansible_os_family == "Debian"
+  include_tasks: apt.yml
+  tags:
+  - system-upgrade-apt
+
+- name: YUM upgrade
+  when:
+  - system_upgrade
+  - ansible_os_family == "RedHat"
+  - not is_fedora_coreos
+  include_tasks: yum.yml
+  tags:
+  - system-upgrade-yum
diff --git a/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/yum.yml b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/yum.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a27177f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/upgrade/system-upgrade/tasks/yum.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+- name: YUM upgrade all packages  # noqa package-latest
+  yum:
+    name: '*'
+    state: latest
+  register: yum_upgrade
+
+- name: Reboot after YUM upgrade  # noqa no-handler
+  when:
+  - yum_upgrade.changed or system_upgrade_reboot == 'always'
+  - system_upgrade_reboot != 'never'
+  reboot: