diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
index c934c9c4f875f..17e7aae572e98 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ spec:
     version: 9.99.0
   - id: k8s-1.19
     manifest: external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml
-    manifestHash: c8c6b1fabc039d7719bebe9e9e4602e9a85b1916b12c39e07c073827d37b37a2
+    manifestHash: 72136be4d820ff344691526f775d43b6f5a7a251687a67e20f1eefb7dd6e2d36
     name: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
index 2175bb9cb0810..3316e6e2d70ff 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: kops
     k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
     k8s-app: external-dns
-    version: v0.12.2
+    version: v0.13.1
   name: external-dns
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ spec:
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       k8s-app: external-dns
+  strategy:
+    type: Recreate
   template:
     metadata:
       creationTimestamp: null
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ spec:
         k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
         k8s-app: external-dns
         kops.k8s.io/managed-by: kops
-        version: v0.12.2
+        version: v0.13.1
     spec:
       affinity:
         nodeAffinity:
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ spec:
           value: 127.0.0.1
         - name: KUBERNETES_SERVICE_PORT
           value: "443"
-        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.12.2
+        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.13.1
         livenessProbe:
           failureThreshold: 2
           httpGet:
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
index 18c48da93d6e6..79127428e775e 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-bootstrap_content
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ spec:
     version: 9.99.0
   - id: k8s-1.19
     manifest: external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml
-    manifestHash: 9b49fcc5159feb4e5ac76ed541f753a354ac5af0f1573ee7b37c94dc0ad0f2d1
+    manifestHash: 3928f4ae95a33e75b8bd2596c5ed7bea36cf87231cf63eac59e6bf35b2855c5f
     name: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
     selector:
       k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
index 813b5a0b5d937..bacf3c5a60acf 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/external_dns_irsa/data/aws_s3_object_minimal.example.com-addons-external-dns.addons.k8s.io-k8s-1.19_content
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: kops
     k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
     k8s-app: external-dns
-    version: v0.12.2
+    version: v0.13.1
   name: external-dns
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ spec:
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       k8s-app: external-dns
+  strategy:
+    type: Recreate
   template:
     metadata:
       creationTimestamp: null
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ spec:
         k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
         k8s-app: external-dns
         kops.k8s.io/managed-by: kops
-        version: v0.12.2
+        version: v0.13.1
     spec:
       affinity:
         nodeAffinity:
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ spec:
           value: arn:aws-test:iam::123456789012:role/external-dns.kube-system.sa.minimal.example.com
         - name: AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE
           value: /var/run/secrets/amazonaws.com/token
-        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.12.2
+        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.13.1
         livenessProbe:
           failureThreshold: 2
           httpGet:
diff --git a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/README.md b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 8a79b84d7801a..0000000000000
--- a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-# ExternalDNS
-
-ExternalDNS synchronizes exposed Kubernetes Services and Ingresses with DNS providers.
-
-## What it does
-
-Inspired by [Kubernetes DNS](https://github.com/kubernetes/dns), Kubernetes' cluster-internal DNS server, ExternalDNS makes Kubernetes resources discoverable via public DNS servers. Like KubeDNS, it retrieves a list of resources (Services, Ingresses, etc.) from the [Kubernetes API](https://kubernetes.io/docs/api/) to determine a desired list of DNS records. *Unlike* KubeDNS, however, it's not a DNS server itself, but merely configures other DNS providers accordingly—e.g. [AWS Route 53](https://aws.amazon.com/route53/) or [Google CloudDNS](https://cloud.google.com/dns/docs/).
-
-In a broader sense, ExternalDNS allows you to control DNS records dynamically via Kubernetes resources in a DNS provider-agnostic way.
-
-## Deploying to a Cluster
-
-The following tutorials are provided:
-
-* [AWS](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/aws.md)
-* [Azure](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/azure.md)
-* [Cloudflare](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/cloudflare.md)
-* [DigitalOcean](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/digitalocean.md)
-* Google Container Engine
-	* [Using Google's Default Ingress Controller](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/gke.md)
-	* [Using the Nginx Ingress Controller](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/tutorials/nginx-ingress.md)
-* [FAQ](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/faq.md)
-
-## Github repository
-
-Source code is managed under kubernetes-incubator at [external-dns](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml.template b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml.template
index 6dfa2dda50c18..8ad6f051c3fe2 100644
--- a/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml.template
+++ b/upup/models/cloudup/resources/addons/external-dns.addons.k8s.io/k8s-1.19.yaml.template
@@ -6,18 +6,20 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
     k8s-app: external-dns
-    version: v0.12.2
+    version: v0.13.1
 spec:
   replicas: 1
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       k8s-app: external-dns
+  strategy:
+    type: Recreate
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
         k8s-addon: external-dns.addons.k8s.io
         k8s-app: external-dns
-        version: v0.12.2
+        version: v0.13.1
     spec:
       affinity:
         nodeAffinity:
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ spec:
           readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
           capabilities:
             drop: ["ALL"]
-        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.12.2
+        image: registry.k8s.io/external-dns/external-dns:v0.13.1
         args:
 {{ range $arg := ExternalDnsArgv }}
         - "{{ $arg }}"