diff --git a/tools/gce/linux_performance_worker_init.sh b/tools/gce/linux_performance_worker_init.sh
index 641271214eed61fbba6f6f10fdf516b52efb88f4..17f36fb4ff8f6d5689efaa80b70701a7a53d563a 100755
--- a/tools/gce/linux_performance_worker_init.sh
+++ b/tools/gce/linux_performance_worker_init.sh
@@ -40,11 +40,6 @@ sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install -y openjdk-8-jdk
 sudo apt-get install -y unzip lsof
 
-# Add pubkey of jenkins@grpc-jenkins-master to authorized keys of jenkins@
-# This needs to happen as the last step to prevent Jenkins master from connecting
-# to a machine that hasn't been properly setup yet.
-cat jenkins_master.pub | sudo tee --append ~jenkins/.ssh/authorized_keys
-
 sudo apt-get install -y \
   autoconf \
   autotools-dev \
@@ -169,3 +164,21 @@ git clone -v https://github.com/brendangregg/FlameGraph ~/FlameGraph
 
 # Install scipy and numpy for benchmarking scripts
 sudo apt-get install python-scipy python-numpy
+
+# Update Linux kernel to 4.9
+wget \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-headers-4.9.20-040920_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_all.deb \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-headers-4.9.20-040920-generic_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_amd64.deb \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-image-4.9.20-040920-generic_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_amd64.deb
+sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.9*.deb linux-image-4.9*.deb
+rm linux-*
+
+# Add pubkey of jenkins@grpc-jenkins-master to authorized keys of jenkins@
+# This needs to happen as the last step to prevent Jenkins master from connecting
+# to a machine that hasn't been properly setup yet.
+cat jenkins_master.pub | sudo tee --append ~jenkins/.ssh/authorized_keys
+
+# Restart for VM to pick up kernel update
+echo 'Successfully initialized the linux worker, going for reboot in 10 seconds'
+sleep 10
+sudo reboot
diff --git a/tools/gce/linux_worker_init.sh b/tools/gce/linux_worker_init.sh
index 9230acdca6d88bba031be7efceb78f887720f658..d552343bde611917ef4a457f788d23c285651a8d 100755
--- a/tools/gce/linux_worker_init.sh
+++ b/tools/gce/linux_worker_init.sh
@@ -59,19 +59,27 @@ sudo usermod -aG docker jenkins
 
 # Use "overlay" storage driver for docker
 # see https://github.com/grpc/grpc/issues/4988
-echo 'DOCKER_OPTS="${DOCKER_OPTS} --storage-driver=overlay"' | sudo tee --append /etc/default/docker
+printf "{\n\t\"storage-driver\": \"overlay\"\n}" | sudo tee /etc/docker/daemon.json
 
 # Install RVM
 # TODO(jtattermusch): why is RVM needed?
 gpg --keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 409B6B1796C275462A1703113804BB82D39DC0E3
 curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable --ruby
 
+# Upgrade Linux kernel to 4.9
+wget \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-headers-4.9.20-040920_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_all.deb \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-headers-4.9.20-040920-generic_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_amd64.deb \
+  kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.9.20/linux-image-4.9.20-040920-generic_4.9.20-040920.201703310531_amd64.deb
+sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.9*.deb linux-image-4.9*.deb
+rm linux-*
+
 # Add pubkey of jenkins@grpc-jenkins-master to authorized keys of jenkins@
 # This needs to happen as the last step to prevent Jenkins master from connecting
 # to a machine that hasn't been properly setup yet.
 cat jenkins_master.pub | sudo tee --append ~jenkins/.ssh/authorized_keys
 
-# Restart for docker to pickup the config changes.
+# Restart for docker to pick up the config changes.
 echo 'Successfully initialized the linux worker, going for reboot in 10 seconds'
 sleep 10