diff --git a/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_atomic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml b/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_atomic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
index 2907463f4c..f763785307 100644
--- a/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_atomic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
+++ b/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_atomic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ parameters:
   kube_tag:
     type: string
     description: tag of the k8s containers used to provision the kubernetes cluster
-    default: v1.9.3
+    default: v1.11.1
 
   etcd_tag:
     type: string
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ parameters:
   kube_version:
     type: string
     description: version of kubernetes used for kubernetes cluster
-    default: v1.9.3
+    default: v1.11.1
 
   kube_dashboard_version:
     type: string
diff --git a/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_ironic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml b/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_ironic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
index d57534e07c..2ee01c9bf4 100644
--- a/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_ironic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
+++ b/magnum/drivers/k8s_fedora_ironic_v1/templates/kubecluster.yaml
@@ -321,12 +321,12 @@ parameters:
   kube_tag:
     type: string
     description: tag of the k8s containers used to provision the kubernetes cluster
-    default: v1.9.3
+    default: v1.11.1
 
   kube_version:
     type: string
     description: version of kubernetes used for kubernetes cluster
-    default: v1.9.3
+    default: v1.11.1
 
   kube_dashboard_version:
     type: string
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/upgrade-to-k8s-v1.11.1-8065fd768873295d.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/upgrade-to-k8s-v1.11.1-8065fd768873295d.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..acb3fde8fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/upgrade-to-k8s-v1.11.1-8065fd768873295d.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    New clusters will be created with kube_tag=v1.11.1 or later. v1.11.1 is
+    the default version in the Rocky release.