diff --git a/clr-k8s-examples/create_stack.sh b/clr-k8s-examples/create_stack.sh
index 9b8f641..b3ad9bb 100755
--- a/clr-k8s-examples/create_stack.sh
+++ b/clr-k8s-examples/create_stack.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ CUR_DIR=$(pwd)
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
 : ${TOKEN:=}
 : ${MASTER_IP:=}
+HIGH_POD_COUNT=${HIGH_POD_COUNT:-""}
 
 function print_usage_exit() {
 	exit_code=${1:-0}
@@ -37,6 +38,16 @@ function cluster_init() {
 	if ! [ -z ${MASTER_IP} ]; then
 		sed -i "/InitConfiguration/a localAPIEndpoint:\\n  advertiseAddress: ${MASTER_IP}" ./kubeadm.yaml
 	fi
+
+	if [[ -n "${HIGH_POD_COUNT}" ]]; then
+		# increase the address range per node
+		cat <<EOT >> kubeadm.yaml
+controllerManager:
+  extraArgs:
+    node-cidr-mask-size: "20"
+EOT
+	fi
+
 	#This only works with kubernetes 1.12+. The kubeadm.yaml is setup
 	#to enable the RuntimeClass featuregate
 	if [[ -d /var/lib/etcd ]]; then
@@ -63,6 +74,12 @@ function cluster_init() {
 	if [ "$(kubectl get nodes | wc -l)" -eq 2 ]; then
 		kubectl taint nodes --all node-role.kubernetes.io/master-
 	fi
+
+	if [[ -n "${HIGH_POD_COUNT}" ]]; then
+		# increase limits in kubelet
+		sudo sed -i 's/^maxPods\:.*/maxPods\: 5000/' /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
+		sudo sed -i 's/^maxOpenFiles\:.*/maxOpenFiles\: 1048576/' /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
+	fi
 }
 
 function kata() {
diff --git a/clr-k8s-examples/setup_system.sh b/clr-k8s-examples/setup_system.sh
index 14831a1..fcaf2a7 100755
--- a/clr-k8s-examples/setup_system.sh
+++ b/clr-k8s-examples/setup_system.sh
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ fs.inotify.max_queued_events=1048576
 fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576
 fs.inotify.max_user_instances=1048576
 EOT
-	sudo sysctl -p
+	sudo sysctl -q -p
 
 	# write configuration files
 	sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/kubelet.service.d
@@ -116,17 +116,6 @@ EOT
 		sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/crio.service.d
 		write_limits_conf "/etc/systemd/system/crio.service.d/limits.conf"
 	fi
-
-	# increase limits in kubelet
-	sudo sed -i 's/^maxPods\:.*/maxPods\: 5000/' /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
-	sudo sed -i 's/^maxOpenFiles\:.*/maxOpenFiles\: 1048576/' /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
-
-	# increase the address range per node
-	cat <<EOT >> kubeadm.yaml
-controllerManager:
-  extraArgs:
-    node-cidr-mask-size: "20"
-EOT
 }
 
 # daemon reload