diff --git a/pkg/clioptions/clusterdiscovery/provider.go b/pkg/clioptions/clusterdiscovery/provider.go
index 9c105c5ea138..6326f10ddee4 100644
--- a/pkg/clioptions/clusterdiscovery/provider.go
+++ b/pkg/clioptions/clusterdiscovery/provider.go
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ import (
 	// Initialize nutanix as a provider
 	_ "github.com/openshift/origin/test/extended/util/nutanix"
 
+	// Initialize external as a provider
+	_ "github.com/openshift/origin/test/extended/util/external"
+
 	// these are loading important global flags that we need to get and set
 	_ "k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e"
 	_ "k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/lifecycle"
@@ -117,7 +120,7 @@ func DecodeProvider(providerTypeOrJSON string, dryRun, discover bool, clusterSta
 		}
 		fallthrough
 
-	case "azure", "aws", "baremetal", "gce", "vsphere", "alibabacloud":
+	case "azure", "aws", "baremetal", "gce", "vsphere", "alibabacloud", "external":
 		if clusterState == nil {
 			clientConfig, err := e2e.LoadConfig(true)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/test/extended/util/external/provider.go b/test/extended/util/external/provider.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aa67c6f26844
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/extended/util/external/provider.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package external
+
+import (
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	framework.RegisterProvider("external", newProvider)
+}
+
+func newProvider() (framework.ProviderInterface, error) {
+	return &Provider{}, nil
+}
+
+// Provider is a structure to handle external for e2e testing
+type Provider struct {
+	framework.NullProvider
+}