diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl.go b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl.go
index e88282241fd..cd6c8375a91 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl.go
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ func (l *manifestList) replaceImages(b []build.Build) (manifestList, error) {
 		}
 
 		recursiveReplaceImage(m, replacements)
+		addSkaffoldLabels(m)
 
 		updatedManifest, err := yaml.Marshal(m)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -318,6 +319,21 @@ func (l *manifestList) replaceImages(b []build.Build) (manifestList, error) {
 	return updatedManifests, nil
 }
 
+func addSkaffoldLabels(m map[interface{}]interface{}) {
+	metadata, ok := m["metadata"].(map[interface{}]interface{})
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if metadata["labels"] == nil {
+		metadata["labels"] = make(map[interface{}]interface{})
+	}
+
+	if labels, ok := metadata["labels"].(map[interface{}]interface{}); ok {
+		labels["skaffold"] = "true"
+	}
+}
+
 func recursiveReplaceImage(i interface{}, replacements map[string]*replacement) {
 	switch t := i.(type) {
 	case []interface{}:
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl_test.go
index 4daac25efb4..b4157d8c4b2 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/deploy/kubectl_test.go
@@ -223,6 +223,8 @@ func TestReplaceImages(t *testing.T) {
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Pod
 metadata:
+  labels:
+    key: value
   name: getting-started
 spec:
   containers:
@@ -231,11 +233,18 @@ spec:
   - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example:latest
     name: latest
   - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example:v1
-    name: fully-qualified
-  - image: skaffold/other
-    name: other
-  - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example@sha256:81daf011d63b68cfa514ddab7741a1adddd59d3264118dfb0fd9266328bb8883
-    name: digest
+    name: fully-qualified`), []byte(`
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: deployment
+template:
+  spec:
+    containers:
+    - image: skaffold/other
+      name: other
+    - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example@sha256:81daf011d63b68cfa514ddab7741a1adddd59d3264118dfb0fd9266328bb8883
+      name: digest
 `)}
 
 	builds := []build.Build{{
@@ -250,6 +259,9 @@ spec:
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Pod
 metadata:
+  labels:
+    key: value
+    skaffold: "true"
   name: getting-started
 spec:
   containers:
@@ -258,11 +270,20 @@ spec:
   - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example:TAG
     name: latest
   - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example:v1
-    name: fully-qualified
-  - image: skaffold/other:OTHER_TAG
-    name: other
-  - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example@sha256:81daf011d63b68cfa514ddab7741a1adddd59d3264118dfb0fd9266328bb8883
-    name: digest
+    name: fully-qualified`), []byte(`
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  labels:
+    skaffold: "true"
+  name: deployment
+template:
+  spec:
+    containers:
+    - image: skaffold/other:OTHER_TAG
+      name: other
+    - image: gcr.io/k8s-skaffold/example@sha256:81daf011d63b68cfa514ddab7741a1adddd59d3264118dfb0fd9266328bb8883
+      name: digest
 `)}
 
 	resultManifest, err := manifests.replaceImages(builds)
@@ -323,6 +344,7 @@ kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   labels:
     run: skaffold
+    skaffold: "true"
   name: skaffold
 spec:
   replicas: 1