diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/FAQ.md b/cluster-autoscaler/FAQ.md
index 62c235c2745..f564e010540 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/FAQ.md
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/FAQ.md
@@ -1022,6 +1022,7 @@ The following startup parameters are supported for cluster autoscaler:
 | `grpc-expander-cert` | Path to cert used by gRPC server over TLS |  |
 | `grpc-expander-url` | URL to reach gRPC expander server. |  |
 | `ignore-daemonsets-utilization` | Should CA ignore DaemonSet pods when calculating resource utilization for scaling down |  |
+| `ignore-node-unschedulable` | Should CA ignore a node's .spec.unschedulable field when creating a node template for considering to scale a node group. | false |
 | `ignore-mirror-pods-utilization` | Should CA ignore Mirror pods when calculating resource utilization for scaling down |  |
 | `ignore-taint` | Specifies a taint to ignore in node templates when considering to scale a node group (Deprecated, use startup-taints instead) | [] |
 | `initial-node-group-backoff-duration` | initialNodeGroupBackoffDuration is the duration of first backoff after a new node failed to start. | 5m0s |
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/config/autoscaling_options.go b/cluster-autoscaler/config/autoscaling_options.go
index a144580989c..30a06541c3a 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/config/autoscaling_options.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/config/autoscaling_options.go
@@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ type AutoscalingOptions struct {
 	BalancingLabels []string
 	// AWSUseStaticInstanceList tells if AWS cloud provider use static instance type list or dynamically fetch from remote APIs.
 	AWSUseStaticInstanceList bool
+	// IgnoreNodeUnschedulable tells the autoscaler to ignore a node's .spec.unschedulable field when creating a node template.
+	// Specifically, this will cause the autoscaler to set the node template's .spec.unschedulable field to false.
+	IgnoreNodeUnschedulable bool
 	// GCEOptions contain autoscaling options specific to GCE cloud provider.
 	GCEOptions GCEOptions
 	// KubeClientOpts specify options for kube client
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/config/flags/flags.go b/cluster-autoscaler/config/flags/flags.go
index 0f7209ebbb1..d16a255b3a9 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/config/flags/flags.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/config/flags/flags.go
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ var (
 	balancingIgnoreLabelsFlag = multiStringFlag("balancing-ignore-label", "Specifies a label to ignore in addition to the basic and cloud-provider set of labels when comparing if two node groups are similar")
 	balancingLabelsFlag       = multiStringFlag("balancing-label", "Specifies a label to use for comparing if two node groups are similar, rather than the built in heuristics. Setting this flag disables all other comparison logic, and cannot be combined with --balancing-ignore-label.")
 	awsUseStaticInstanceList  = flag.Bool("aws-use-static-instance-list", false, "Should CA fetch instance types in runtime or use a static list. AWS only")
+	ignoreNodeUnschedulable   = flag.Bool("ignore-node-unschedulable", false, "Specifies that the CA should ignore a node's .spec.unschedulable field in node templates when considering to scale a node group.")
 
 	// GCE specific flags
 	concurrentGceRefreshes             = flag.Int("gce-concurrent-refreshes", 1, "Maximum number of concurrent refreshes per cloud object type.")
@@ -351,6 +352,7 @@ func createAutoscalingOptions() config.AutoscalingOptions {
 		},
 		NodeDeletionDelayTimeout: *nodeDeletionDelayTimeout,
 		AWSUseStaticInstanceList: *awsUseStaticInstanceList,
+		IgnoreNodeUnschedulable:  *ignoreNodeUnschedulable,
 		GCEOptions: config.GCEOptions{
 			ConcurrentRefreshes:            *concurrentGceRefreshes,
 			MigInstancesMinRefreshWaitTime: *gceMigInstancesMinRefreshWaitTime,
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go b/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
index 86d4ab9826a..9b089a319c7 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/core/static_autoscaler.go
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ func (a *StaticAutoscaler) RunOnce(currentTime time.Time) caerrors.AutoscalerErr
 		return typedErr.AddPrefix("failed to initialize RemainingPdbTracker: ")
 	}
 
-	nodeInfosForGroups, autoscalerError := a.processors.TemplateNodeInfoProvider.Process(autoscalingCtx, readyNodes, daemonsets, a.taintConfig, currentTime)
+	nodeInfosForGroups, autoscalerError := a.processors.TemplateNodeInfoProvider.Process(autoscalingCtx, allNodes, daemonsets, a.taintConfig, currentTime)
 	if autoscalerError != nil {
 		klog.Errorf("Failed to get node infos for groups: %v", autoscalerError)
 		return autoscalerError.AddPrefix("failed to build node infos for node groups: ")
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/processors/nodeinfosprovider/mixed_nodeinfos_processor.go b/cluster-autoscaler/processors/nodeinfosprovider/mixed_nodeinfos_processor.go
index 4b297372e7b..304a05039e3 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/processors/nodeinfosprovider/mixed_nodeinfos_processor.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/processors/nodeinfosprovider/mixed_nodeinfos_processor.go
@@ -78,6 +78,18 @@ func (p *MixedTemplateNodeInfoProvider) Process(autoscalingCtx *ca_context.Autos
 	result := make(map[string]*framework.NodeInfo)
 	seenGroups := make(map[string]bool)
 
+	// sort nodes into those good and bad candidates for templates. the bad candidates will be processed
+	// at the end of this function as a last resort for a node info template.
+	goodCandidates := make([]*apiv1.Node, 0)
+	badCandidates := make([]*apiv1.Node, 0)
+	for _, node := range nodes {
+		if isNodeGoodTemplateCandidate(node, now) {
+			goodCandidates = append(goodCandidates, node)
+		} else {
+			badCandidates = append(badCandidates, node)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// processNode returns information whether the nodeTemplate was generated and if there was an error.
 	processNode := func(node *apiv1.Node) (bool, string, caerror.AutoscalerError) {
 		nodeGroup, err := autoscalingCtx.CloudProvider.NodeGroupForNode(node)
@@ -103,11 +115,7 @@ func (p *MixedTemplateNodeInfoProvider) Process(autoscalingCtx *ca_context.Autos
 		return false, "", nil
 	}
 
-	for _, node := range nodes {
-		// Broken nodes might have some stuff missing. Skipping.
-		if !isNodeGoodTemplateCandidate(node, now) {
-			continue
-		}
+	for _, node := range goodCandidates {
 		added, id, typedErr := processNode(node)
 		if typedErr != nil {
 			return map[string]*framework.NodeInfo{}, typedErr
@@ -156,11 +164,7 @@ func (p *MixedTemplateNodeInfoProvider) Process(autoscalingCtx *ca_context.Autos
 	}
 
 	// Last resort - unready/unschedulable nodes.
-	for _, node := range nodes {
-		// Allowing broken nodes
-		if isNodeGoodTemplateCandidate(node, now) {
-			continue
-		}
+	for _, node := range badCandidates {
 		added, _, typedErr := processNode(node)
 		if typedErr != nil {
 			return map[string]*framework.NodeInfo{}, typedErr
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/node_info_utils.go b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/node_info_utils.go
index ffa8f33be53..8903cb54a83 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/node_info_utils.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/simulator/node_info_utils.go
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ func createSanitizedNode(node *apiv1.Node, newName string, taintConfig *taints.T
 	}
 	newNode.Labels[apiv1.LabelHostname] = newName
 
+	if taintConfig != nil && taintConfig.ShouldIgnoreNodeUnschedulable() {
+		newNode.Spec.Unschedulable = false
+	}
+
 	if taintConfig != nil {
 		newNode.Spec.Taints = taints.SanitizeTaints(newNode.Spec.Taints, *taintConfig)
 	}
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/utils/taints/taints.go b/cluster-autoscaler/utils/taints/taints.go
index acae356089d..7910ab4ca1b 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/utils/taints/taints.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/utils/taints/taints.go
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ type TaintConfig struct {
 	startupTaintPrefixes     []string
 	statusTaintPrefixes      []string
 	explicitlyReportedTaints TaintKeySet
+	// The ignoreNodeUnschedulable field helps to inform the CA when
+	// to ignore .spec.unschedulable for a node. It is being added to this
+	// struct for convenience as it will be used in similar places that check
+	// for taints to ignore.
+	ignoreNodeUnschedulable bool
 }
 
 // NewTaintConfig returns the taint config extracted from options
@@ -128,6 +133,7 @@ func NewTaintConfig(opts config.AutoscalingOptions) TaintConfig {
 		startupTaintPrefixes:     []string{IgnoreTaintPrefix, StartupTaintPrefix},
 		statusTaintPrefixes:      []string{StatusTaintPrefix},
 		explicitlyReportedTaints: explicitlyReportedTaints,
+		ignoreNodeUnschedulable:  opts.IgnoreNodeUnschedulable,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -147,6 +153,11 @@ func (tc TaintConfig) IsStatusTaint(taint string) bool {
 	return matchesAnyPrefix(tc.statusTaintPrefixes, taint)
 }
 
+// ShouldIgnoreNodeUnschedulable returns whether a node's .spec.unschedulable field should be ignored.
+func (tc TaintConfig) ShouldIgnoreNodeUnschedulable() bool {
+	return tc.ignoreNodeUnschedulable
+}
+
 func (tc TaintConfig) isExplicitlyReportedTaint(taint string) bool {
 	_, ok := tc.explicitlyReportedTaints[taint]
 	return ok