diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fa486a0..6bddfa2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,18 +11,20 @@ Nidhogg was built using [Kubebuilder](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kubebui
 ## Usage
 
 Nidhogg requires a yaml/json config file to tell it what Daemonsets to watch and what nodes to act on.
-`nodeSelector` is a map of keys/values corresponding to node labels. `daemonsets` is an array of Daemonsets to watch, each containing two fields `name` and `namespace`. Nodes are tainted with taint that follows the format of `nidhogg.uswitch.com/namespace.name:NoSchedule`.
+`nodeSelector` is a map of keys/values corresponding to node labels. `daemonsets` is an array of Daemonsets to watch, each containing two mandatory fields `name` and `namespace` and one optional field `effect` (the effect will be set to `NoSchedule` by default). Nodes are tainted with taint that follows the format of `nidhogg.uswitch.com/{namespace}.{name}:{effect}`.
 
 Example:
 
 YAML:
+
 ```yaml
-nodeSelector:
-  node-role.kubernetes.io/node
+nodeSelector: node-role.kubernetes.io/node
 daemonsets:
   - name: kiam
-    namespace: kube-system  
+    namespace: kube-system
+    effect: NoSchedule # default value, can be omitted
 ```
+
 JSON:
 
 ```json
@@ -40,9 +42,10 @@ JSON:
   ]
 }
 ```
-This example will select any nodes in AWS ASGs named "standard" or "special" that have the label 
-`node-role.kubernetes.io/node` present, and no nodes with label `node-role.kubernetes.io/master`. If the matching nodes 
-do not have a running and ready pod from the `kiam` daemonset in the `kube-system` namespace. It will add a taint of 
+
+This example will select any nodes in AWS ASGs named "standard" or "special" that have the label
+`node-role.kubernetes.io/node` present, and no nodes with label `node-role.kubernetes.io/master`. If the matching nodes
+do not have a running and ready pod from the `kiam` daemonset in the `kube-system` namespace. It will add a taint of
 `nidhogg.uswitch.com/kube-system.kiam:NoSchedule` until there is a ready kiam pod on the node.
 
 If you want pods to be able to run on the nidhogg tainted nodes you can add a toleration:
@@ -50,17 +53,19 @@ If you want pods to be able to run on the nidhogg tainted nodes you can add a to
 ```yaml
 spec:
   tolerations:
-  - key: nidhogg.uswitch.com/kube-system.kiam
-    operator: "Exists"
-    effect: NoSchedule
+    - key: nidhogg.uswitch.com/kube-system.kiam
+      operator: "Exists"
+      effect: NoSchedule
 ```
 
 ## Deploying
+
 Docker images can be found at https://quay.io/uswitch/nidhogg
 
-Example [Kustomize](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize) manifests can be found  [here](/config) to quickly deploy this to a cluster.
+Example [Kustomize](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize) manifests can be found [here](/config) to quickly deploy this to a cluster.
 
 ## Flags
+
 ```
 -config-file string
     Path to config file (default "config.json")
@@ -77,3 +82,7 @@ Example [Kustomize](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize) manifests can
 -metrics-addr string
     The address the metric endpoint binds to. (default ":8080")
 ```
+
+## GKE Preemptible Nodes Support
+
+If you are using Nidhogg on GKE with preemptible nodes, make sure to set `effect:NoExecute` for the DaemonSets. This is required because when a node gets preempted and comes back online, the pods will already be scheduled on it, therefore the `effect:NoSchedule` will not prevent pods without a toleration to start running.
diff --git a/pkg/nidhogg/handler.go b/pkg/nidhogg/handler.go
index 746774b..1fe5aee 100644
--- a/pkg/nidhogg/handler.go
+++ b/pkg/nidhogg/handler.go
@@ -79,10 +79,11 @@ func (hc *HandlerConfig) BuildSelectors() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Daemonset contains the name and namespace of a Daemonset
+// Daemonset contains the name and namespace of a Daemonset. Also includes the effect to set for the taint.
 type Daemonset struct {
-	Name      string `json:"name" yaml:"name"`
-	Namespace string `json:"namespace" yaml:"namespace"`
+	Name      string             `json:"name" yaml:"name"`
+	Namespace string             `json:"namespace" yaml:"namespace"`
+	Effect    corev1.TaintEffect `json:"effect,omitempty" yaml:"effect,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type taintChanges struct {
@@ -159,7 +160,7 @@ func (h *Handler) HandleNode(instance *corev1.Node) (reconcile.Result, error) {
 }
 
 func (h *Handler) calculateTaints(instance *corev1.Node) (*corev1.Node, taintChanges, error) {
-
+	log := logf.Log.WithName("nidhogg")
 	nodeCopy := instance.DeepCopy()
 
 	var changes taintChanges
@@ -181,20 +182,22 @@ func (h *Handler) calculateTaints(instance *corev1.Node) (*corev1.Node, taintCha
 			return nil, taintChanges{}, fmt.Errorf("error fetching pods: %v", err)
 		}
 
-		if pod != nil && podReady(pod) {
+		if pod != nil && podReady(pod) && nodeReady(nodeCopy) {
 			// if the taint is in the taintsToRemove map, it'll be removed
 			continue
 		}
+		log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Pod does not exist or is not ready, or node is not ready"))
 		// pod doesn't exist or is not ready
 		_, ok := taintsToRemove[taint]
 		if ok {
 			// we want to keep this already existing taint on it
+			log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Keeping taint %s", taint))
 			delete(taintsToRemove, taint)
 			continue
 		}
 		// taint is not already present, adding it
 		changes.taintsAdded = append(changes.taintsAdded, taint)
-		nodeCopy.Spec.Taints = addTaint(nodeCopy.Spec.Taints, taint)
+		nodeCopy.Spec.Taints = addTaint(nodeCopy.Spec.Taints, taint, daemonset.Effect)
 	}
 	for taint := range taintsToRemove {
 		nodeCopy.Spec.Taints = removeTaint(nodeCopy.Spec.Taints, taint)
@@ -225,16 +228,34 @@ func (h *Handler) getDaemonsetPod(nodeName string, ds Daemonset) (*corev1.Pod, e
 }
 
 func podReady(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
+	log := logf.Log.WithName("nidhogg")
 	for _, status := range pod.Status.ContainerStatuses {
 		if status.Ready == false {
+			log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Pod %s is not ready", pod.Name))
 			return false
 		}
 	}
+	log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Pod %s is ready", pod.Name))
 	return true
 }
 
-func addTaint(taints []corev1.Taint, taintName string) []corev1.Taint {
-	return append(taints, corev1.Taint{Key: taintName, Effect: corev1.TaintEffectNoSchedule})
+func nodeReady(node *corev1.Node) bool {
+	log := logf.Log.WithName("nidhogg")
+	for _, condition := range node.Status.Conditions {
+		if condition.Type == corev1.NodeReady && condition.Status == corev1.ConditionFalse {
+			log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Node %s is not ready", node.Name))
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Node %s is ready", node.Name))
+	return true
+}
+
+func addTaint(taints []corev1.Taint, taintName string, effect corev1.TaintEffect) []corev1.Taint {
+	if effect == "" {
+		effect = corev1.TaintEffectNoSchedule
+	}
+	return append(taints, corev1.Taint{Key: taintName, Effect: effect})
 }
 
 func removeTaint(taints []corev1.Taint, taintName string) []corev1.Taint {