diff --git a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.rst b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.rst
index 41613787..dd78d35e 100644
--- a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.rst
+++ b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.rst
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ ZooKeeper
 -  **PATRONI\_ZOOKEEPER\_KEY**: (optional) File with the client key.
 -  **PATRONI\_ZOOKEEPER\_KEY\_PASSWORD**: (optional) The client key password.
 -  **PATRONI\_ZOOKEEPER\_VERIFY**: (optional) Whether to verify certificate or not. Defaults to ``true``.
+-  **PATRONI\_ZOOKEEPER\_SET\_ACLS**: (optional) If set, configure Kazoo to apply a default ACL to each ZNode that it creates. ACLs will assume 'x509' schema and should be specified as a dictionary with the principal as the key and one or more permissions as a list in the value.  Permissions may be one of ``CREATE``, ``READ``, ``WRITE``, ``DELETE`` or ``ADMIN``.  For example, ``set_acls: {CN=principal1: [CREATE, READ], CN=principal2: [ALL]}``.
 
 .. note::
     It is required to install ``kazoo>=2.6.0`` to support SSL.
diff --git a/docs/SETTINGS.rst b/docs/SETTINGS.rst
index d304b04c..53227c8b 100644
--- a/docs/SETTINGS.rst
+++ b/docs/SETTINGS.rst
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ ZooKeeper
 -  **key**: (optional) File with the client key.
 -  **key_password**: (optional) The client key password.
 -  **verify**: (optional) Whether to verify certificate or not. Defaults to ``true``.
+-  **set_acls**: (optional) If set, configure Kazoo to apply a default ACL to each ZNode that it creates. ACLs will assume 'x509' schema and should be specified as a dictionary with the principal as the key and one or more permissions as a list in the value.  Permissions may be one of ``CREATE``, ``READ``, ``WRITE``, ``DELETE`` or ``ADMIN``.  For example, ``set_acls: {CN=principal1: [CREATE, READ], CN=principal2: [ALL]}``. 
 
 .. note::
     It is required to install ``kazoo>=2.6.0`` to support SSL.
diff --git a/patroni/config.py b/patroni/config.py
index d265c511..2161a7c6 100644
--- a/patroni/config.py
+++ b/patroni/config.py
@@ -352,13 +352,13 @@ class Config(object):
                               'CACERT', 'CERT', 'KEY', 'VERIFY', 'TOKEN', 'CHECKS', 'DC', 'CONSISTENCY',
                               'REGISTER_SERVICE', 'SERVICE_CHECK_INTERVAL', 'NAMESPACE', 'CONTEXT',
                               'USE_ENDPOINTS', 'SCOPE_LABEL', 'ROLE_LABEL', 'POD_IP', 'PORTS', 'LABELS',
-                              'BYPASS_API_SERVICE', 'KEY_PASSWORD', 'USE_SSL') and name:
+                              'BYPASS_API_SERVICE', 'KEY_PASSWORD', 'USE_SSL', 'SET_ACLS') and name:
                     value = os.environ.pop(param)
                     if suffix == 'PORT':
                         value = value and parse_int(value)
                     elif suffix in ('HOSTS', 'PORTS', 'CHECKS'):
                         value = value and _parse_list(value)
-                    elif suffix == 'LABELS':
+                    elif suffix in ('LABELS', 'SET_ACLS'):
                         value = _parse_dict(value)
                     elif suffix in ('USE_PROXIES', 'REGISTER_SERVICE', 'USE_ENDPOINTS', 'BYPASS_API_SERVICE', 'VERIFY'):
                         value = parse_bool(value)
diff --git a/patroni/dcs/zookeeper.py b/patroni/dcs/zookeeper.py
index f3b9ac38..9cbff65e 100644
--- a/patroni/dcs/zookeeper.py
+++ b/patroni/dcs/zookeeper.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from kazoo.client import KazooClient, KazooState, KazooRetry
 from kazoo.exceptions import NoNodeError, NodeExistsError, SessionExpiredError
 from kazoo.handlers.threading import SequentialThreadingHandler
 from kazoo.protocol.states import KeeperState
+from kazoo.security import make_acl
 
 from . import AbstractDCS, ClusterConfig, Cluster, Failover, Leader, Member, SyncState, TimelineHistory
 from ..exceptions import DCSError
@@ -83,6 +84,19 @@ class ZooKeeper(AbstractDCS):
                    'cert': 'certfile', 'key': 'keyfile', 'key_password': 'keyfile_password'}
         kwargs = {v: config[k] for k, v in mapping.items() if k in config}
 
+        if 'set_acls' in config:
+            kwargs['default_acl'] = []
+            for principal, permissions in config['set_acls'].items():
+                normalizedPermissions = [p.upper() for p in permissions]
+                kwargs['default_acl'].append(make_acl(scheme='x509',
+                                                      credential=principal,
+                                                      read='READ' in normalizedPermissions,
+                                                      write='WRITE' in normalizedPermissions,
+                                                      create='CREATE' in normalizedPermissions,
+                                                      delete='DELETE' in normalizedPermissions,
+                                                      admin='ADMIN' in normalizedPermissions,
+                                                      all='ALL' in normalizedPermissions))
+
         self._client = PatroniKazooClient(hosts, handler=PatroniSequentialThreadingHandler(config['retry_timeout']),
                                           timeout=config['ttl'], connection_retry=KazooRetry(max_delay=1, max_tries=-1,
                                           sleep_func=time.sleep), command_retry=KazooRetry(max_delay=1, max_tries=-1,