diff --git a/bootstrap/kubeadm/config/manager/manager.yaml b/bootstrap/kubeadm/config/manager/manager.yaml
index d3bc3688efdb..8526bce3bda9 100644
--- a/bootstrap/kubeadm/config/manager/manager.yaml
+++ b/bootstrap/kubeadm/config/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ spec:
             - "--leader-elect"
             - "--diagnostics-address=${CAPI_DIAGNOSTICS_ADDRESS:=:8443}"
             - "--insecure-diagnostics=${CAPI_INSECURE_DIAGNOSTICS:=false}"
-            - "--feature-gates=MachinePool=${EXP_MACHINE_POOL:=true},KubeadmBootstrapFormatIgnition=${EXP_KUBEADM_BOOTSTRAP_FORMAT_IGNITION:=false},PriorityQueue=${EXP_PRIORITY_QUEUE:=false}"
+            - "--feature-gates=MachinePool=${EXP_MACHINE_POOL:=true},KubeadmBootstrapFormatIgnition=${EXP_KUBEADM_BOOTSTRAP_FORMAT_IGNITION:=false},PriorityQueue=${EXP_PRIORITY_QUEUE:=false},InPlaceUpdates=${EXP_IN_PLACE_UPDATES:=false}"
             - "--bootstrap-token-ttl=${KUBEADM_BOOTSTRAP_TOKEN_TTL:=15m}"
           image: controller:latest
           name: manager
diff --git a/config/manager/manager.yaml b/config/manager/manager.yaml
index 54acf21d0444..7532a870b6d2 100644
--- a/config/manager/manager.yaml
+++ b/config/manager/manager.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ spec:
             - "--leader-elect"
             - "--diagnostics-address=${CAPI_DIAGNOSTICS_ADDRESS:=:8443}"
             - "--insecure-diagnostics=${CAPI_INSECURE_DIAGNOSTICS:=false}"
-            - "--feature-gates=MachinePool=${EXP_MACHINE_POOL:=true},ClusterResourceSet=${EXP_CLUSTER_RESOURCE_SET:=true},ClusterTopology=${CLUSTER_TOPOLOGY:=false},RuntimeSDK=${EXP_RUNTIME_SDK:=false},MachineSetPreflightChecks=${EXP_MACHINE_SET_PREFLIGHT_CHECKS:=true},MachineWaitForVolumeDetachConsiderVolumeAttachments=${EXP_MACHINE_WAITFORVOLUMEDETACH_CONSIDER_VOLUMEATTACHMENTS:=true},PriorityQueue=${EXP_PRIORITY_QUEUE:=false}"
+            - "--feature-gates=MachinePool=${EXP_MACHINE_POOL:=true},ClusterResourceSet=${EXP_CLUSTER_RESOURCE_SET:=true},ClusterTopology=${CLUSTER_TOPOLOGY:=false},RuntimeSDK=${EXP_RUNTIME_SDK:=false},MachineSetPreflightChecks=${EXP_MACHINE_SET_PREFLIGHT_CHECKS:=true},MachineWaitForVolumeDetachConsiderVolumeAttachments=${EXP_MACHINE_WAITFORVOLUMEDETACH_CONSIDER_VOLUMEATTACHMENTS:=true},PriorityQueue=${EXP_PRIORITY_QUEUE:=false},InPlaceUpdates=${EXP_IN_PLACE_UPDATES:=false}"
           image: controller:latest
           name: manager
           env:
diff --git a/feature/feature.go b/feature/feature.go
index 15a6fb169b4a..5793fe8fcbd0 100644
--- a/feature/feature.go
+++ b/feature/feature.go
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ const (
 	//
 	// alpha: v1.10
 	PriorityQueue featuregate.Feature = "PriorityQueue"
+
+	// InPlaceUpdates is a feature gate for the in-place machine updates functionality.
+	// alpha: v1.12
+	InPlaceUpdates featuregate.Feature = "InPlaceUpdates"
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -95,4 +99,5 @@ var defaultClusterAPIFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 	ClusterTopology:                {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	KubeadmBootstrapFormatIgnition: {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 	RuntimeSDK:                     {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
+	InPlaceUpdates:                 {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
index a613a54f2650..eb4d1e223f4d 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ variables:
   EXP_RUNTIME_SDK: "true"
   EXP_MACHINE_SET_PREFLIGHT_CHECKS: "true"
   EXP_PRIORITY_QUEUE: "false"
+  EXP_IN_PLACE_UPDATES: "true"
   CAPI_DIAGNOSTICS_ADDRESS: ":8080"
   CAPI_INSECURE_DIAGNOSTICS: "true"