diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration.java
index 2e8f3975..39a7dbb4 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ public class KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration {
 	@ConditionalOnMissingBean
 	public ApiClient apiClient() {
 		ApiClient apiClient = kubernetesApiClient();
-		io.kubernetes.client.openapi.Configuration.setDefaultApiClient(apiClient);
 		return apiClient;
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientDefaultApiClientTests.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientDefaultApiClientTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7258e62d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-client-autoconfig/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/client/KubernetesClientDefaultApiClientTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-2021 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.client;
+
+import io.kubernetes.client.openapi.ApiClient;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+/**
+ * @author Robert McNees
+ *
+ * This tests that the apiClient created in KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration will not set
+ * itself as the default apiClient. This is to avoid overwriting the user's
+ * defaultApiClient if they include this project.
+ */
+@SpringBootTest(classes = KubernetesClientDefaultApiClientTests.App.class,
+		properties = { "kubernetes.informer.enabled=false" })
+// kubernetes.informer is disabled because
+// io.kubernetes...KubernetesInformerAutoConfiguration
+// creates a defaultApiClient that will be autowired instead of the ApiClient
+// created in KubernetesClientAutoConfiguration
+public class KubernetesClientDefaultApiClientTests {
+
+	@Autowired
+	private ApiClient apiClient;
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCreatedApiClientIsNotDefault() {
+		assertThat(apiClient).isNotNull();
+
+		ApiClient defaultApiClient = io.kubernetes.client.openapi.Configuration.getDefaultApiClient();
+		assertThat(defaultApiClient).isNotNull();
+
+		assertThat(defaultApiClient).isNotSameAs(apiClient);
+	}
+
+	@SpringBootApplication
+	static class App {
+
+	}
+
+}