diff --git a/clusterman/kubernetes/util.py b/clusterman/kubernetes/util.py
index ab3ff183f..0e9253a5f 100644
--- a/clusterman/kubernetes/util.py
+++ b/clusterman/kubernetes/util.py
@@ -60,7 +60,18 @@ def __init__(self, kubeconfig_path: str, client_class: Type) -> None:
         :param Type client_class: k8s client class to initialize
         """
         try:
-            kubernetes.config.load_kube_config(kubeconfig_path, context=os.getenv("KUBECONTEXT"))
+            """
+            https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/containers/container-environment/#container-environment
+            Every pod in k8s gets some default environment variable injected, including KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST
+            which points to default kuberbetes service. We are using this variable to distinguise between
+            when cluterman is started in a pod vs when it's started on host. For clusterman instances running inside
+            a k8s cluster, we prioritise using K8s Service account since that let us avoid creating any kubeconfig
+            in advance. For clusterman CLI invocation we continue using provided KUBECONFIG file
+            """
+            if os.getenv("KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST"):
+                kubernetes.config.load_incluster_config()
+            else:
+                kubernetes.config.load_kube_config(kubeconfig_path, context=os.getenv("KUBECONTEXT"))
         except TypeError:
             error_msg = "Could not load KUBECONFIG; is this running on Kubernetes master?"
             if "yelpcorp" in socket.getfqdn():
diff --git a/tests/kubernetes/util_test.py b/tests/kubernetes/util_test.py
index ef4da0799..3316a4660 100644
--- a/tests/kubernetes/util_test.py
+++ b/tests/kubernetes/util_test.py
@@ -26,6 +26,21 @@ def test_cached_corev1_api_no_kubeconfig(caplog):
         assert "Could not load KUBECONFIG" in caplog.text
 
 
+def test_cached_corev1_api_use_load_incluster_config_when_running_in_pod():
+    with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST": "ABC"}):
+        with mock.patch(
+            "clusterman.kubernetes.util.kubernetes.config.load_incluster_config"
+        ) as mock_load_incluster_config:
+            _ = CachedCoreV1Api("/foo/bar/admin.conf")
+            assert mock_load_incluster_config.called
+
+
+def test_cached_corev1_api_use_load_kubeconfig_config_when_running_as_cli():
+    with mock.patch("clusterman.kubernetes.util.kubernetes.config.load_kube_config") as mock_load_kube_config:
+        _ = CachedCoreV1Api("/foo/bar/admin.conf")
+        assert mock_load_kube_config.called
+
+
 def test_cached_corev1_api_caches_non_cached_function(mock_cached_core_v1_api):
     mock_cached_core_v1_api.list_namespace()
     assert mock_cached_core_v1_api._client.list_namespace.call_count == 1