diff --git a/lib/backend/k8s/k8s.go b/lib/backend/k8s/k8s.go
index 5c9a1bc4a..09458bb77 100644
--- a/lib/backend/k8s/k8s.go
+++ b/lib/backend/k8s/k8s.go
@@ -114,8 +114,13 @@ func (c *KubeClient) Update(d *model.KVPair) (*model.KVPair, error) {
 // Set an existing entry in the datastore.  This ignores whether an entry already
 // exists.
 func (c *KubeClient) Apply(d *model.KVPair) (*model.KVPair, error) {
-	log.Infof("Ignoring 'Apply' for %s", d.Key)
-	return d, nil
+	switch d.Key.(type) {
+	case model.WorkloadEndpointKey:
+		return c.applyWorkloadEndpoint(d)
+	default:
+		log.Infof("Ignoring 'Apply' for %s", d.Key)
+		return d, nil
+	}
 }
 
 // Delete an entry in the datastore. This is a no-op when using the k8s backend.
@@ -214,6 +219,27 @@ func (c *KubeClient) getProfile(k model.ProfileKey) (*model.KVPair, error) {
 	return c.converter.namespaceToProfile(namespace)
 }
 
+// applyWorkloadEndpoint patches the existing Pod to include an IP address, if
+// one has been set on the workload endpoint.
+func (c *KubeClient) applyWorkloadEndpoint(k *model.KVPair) (*model.KVPair, error) {
+	ips := k.Value.(*model.WorkloadEndpoint).IPv4Nets
+	if len(ips) > 0 {
+		ns, name := c.converter.parseWorkloadID(k.Key.(model.WorkloadEndpointKey).WorkloadID)
+		pod, err := c.clientSet.Pods(ns).Get(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		pod.Status.PodIP = ips[0].IP.String()
+		pod, err = c.clientSet.Pods(ns).Update(pod)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		log.Debugf("Successfully applied pod: %+v", pod)
+		return c.converter.podToWorkloadEndpoint(pod)
+	}
+	return k, nil
+}
+
 // listWorkloadEndpoints lists WorkloadEndpoints from the k8s API based on existing Pods.
 func (c *KubeClient) listWorkloadEndpoints(l model.WorkloadEndpointListOptions) ([]*model.KVPair, error) {
 	// If a workload is provided, we can do an exact lookup of this
diff --git a/lib/backend/k8s/k8s_fv_test.go b/lib/backend/k8s/k8s_fv_test.go
index 39049db86..b93edc673 100644
--- a/lib/backend/k8s/k8s_fv_test.go
+++ b/lib/backend/k8s/k8s_fv_test.go
@@ -283,7 +283,9 @@ var _ = Describe("Test Syncer API for Kubernetes backend", func() {
 		Expect(len(weps)).To(Equal(1))
 
 		// Perform a Get and ensure no error in the Calico API.
-		_, err = c.Get(model.WorkloadEndpointKey{WorkloadID: fmt.Sprintf("default.%s", pod.ObjectMeta.Name)})
+		wep, err := c.Get(model.WorkloadEndpointKey{WorkloadID: fmt.Sprintf("default.%s", pod.ObjectMeta.Name)})
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		_, err = c.Apply(wep)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 	})