diff --git a/command/checkpoint/cmd.go b/command/checkpoint/cmd.go
index 84084ab716..7f9e537779 100644
--- a/command/checkpoint/cmd.go
+++ b/command/checkpoint/cmd.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ func NewCheckpointCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 			fmt.Fprintf(dockerCli.Err(), "\n"+cmd.UsageString())
 		},
+		Tags: map[string]string{"experimental": ""},
 	}
 	cmd.AddCommand(
 		newCreateCommand(dockerCli),
diff --git a/command/cli.go b/command/cli.go
index be82ecf6f3..33a26c4c64 100644
--- a/command/cli.go
+++ b/command/cli.go
@@ -32,27 +32,21 @@ type Streams interface {
 // DockerCli represents the docker command line client.
 // Instances of the client can be returned from NewDockerCli.
 type DockerCli struct {
-	configFile      *configfile.ConfigFile
-	in              *InStream
-	out             *OutStream
-	err             io.Writer
-	keyFile         string
-	client          client.APIClient
-	hasExperimental *bool
+	configFile *configfile.ConfigFile
+	in         *InStream
+	out        *OutStream
+	err        io.Writer
+	keyFile    string
+	client     client.APIClient
 }
 
 // HasExperimental returns true if experimental features are accessible
 func (cli *DockerCli) HasExperimental() bool {
-	if cli.hasExperimental == nil {
-		if cli.client == nil {
-			cli.Initialize(cliflags.NewClientOptions())
-		}
-		enabled := false
-		cli.hasExperimental = &enabled
-		enabled, _ = cli.client.Ping(context.Background())
+	if cli.client == nil {
+		return false
 	}
-
-	return *cli.hasExperimental
+	enabled, _ := cli.client.Ping(context.Background())
+	return enabled
 }
 
 // Client returns the APIClient
diff --git a/command/commands/commands.go b/command/commands/commands.go
index 425f90ba7d..fad709bca1 100644
--- a/command/commands/commands.go
+++ b/command/commands/commands.go
@@ -70,17 +70,12 @@ func AddCommands(cmd *cobra.Command, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) {
 		hide(image.NewSaveCommand(dockerCli)),
 		hide(image.NewTagCommand(dockerCli)),
 		hide(system.NewInspectCommand(dockerCli)),
+		stack.NewStackCommand(dockerCli),
+		stack.NewTopLevelDeployCommand(dockerCli),
+		checkpoint.NewCheckpointCommand(dockerCli),
+		plugin.NewPluginCommand(dockerCli),
 	)
 
-	if dockerCli.HasExperimental() {
-		cmd.AddCommand(
-			stack.NewStackCommand(dockerCli),
-			stack.NewTopLevelDeployCommand(dockerCli),
-			checkpoint.NewCheckpointCommand(dockerCli),
-			plugin.NewPluginCommand(dockerCli),
-		)
-	}
-
 }
 
 func hide(cmd *cobra.Command) *cobra.Command {
diff --git a/command/container/start.go b/command/container/start.go
index 8e0654da37..87e815fed5 100644
--- a/command/container/start.go
+++ b/command/container/start.go
@@ -45,11 +45,10 @@ func NewStartCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 	flags.BoolVarP(&opts.openStdin, "interactive", "i", false, "Attach container's STDIN")
 	flags.StringVar(&opts.detachKeys, "detach-keys", "", "Override the key sequence for detaching a container")
 
-	if dockerCli.HasExperimental() {
-		flags.StringVar(&opts.checkpoint, "checkpoint", "", "Restore from this checkpoint")
-		flags.StringVar(&opts.checkpointDir, "checkpoint-dir", "", "Use a custom checkpoint storage directory")
-	}
-
+	flags.StringVar(&opts.checkpoint, "checkpoint", "", "Restore from this checkpoint")
+	flags.SetAnnotation("checkpoint", "experimental", nil)
+	flags.StringVar(&opts.checkpointDir, "checkpoint-dir", "", "Use a custom checkpoint storage directory")
+	flags.SetAnnotation("checkpoint-dir", "experimental", nil)
 	return cmd
 }
 
diff --git a/command/image/build.go b/command/image/build.go
index dc18601900..5cf36cfd53 100644
--- a/command/image/build.go
+++ b/command/image/build.go
@@ -111,9 +111,8 @@ func NewBuildCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 
 	command.AddTrustedFlags(flags, true)
 
-	if dockerCli.HasExperimental() {
-		flags.BoolVar(&options.squash, "squash", false, "Squash newly built layers into a single new layer")
-	}
+	flags.BoolVar(&options.squash, "squash", false, "Squash newly built layers into a single new layer")
+	flags.SetAnnotation("squash", "experimental", nil)
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/command/plugin/cmd.go b/command/plugin/cmd.go
index 80fa61cb1c..c78f43a8d4 100644
--- a/command/plugin/cmd.go
+++ b/command/plugin/cmd.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ func NewPluginCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 			fmt.Fprintf(dockerCli.Err(), "\n"+cmd.UsageString())
 		},
+		Tags: map[string]string{"experimental": ""},
 	}
 
 	cmd.AddCommand(
diff --git a/command/stack/cmd.go b/command/stack/cmd.go
index 49fcedf209..70afec9c6d 100644
--- a/command/stack/cmd.go
+++ b/command/stack/cmd.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ func NewStackCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 			fmt.Fprintf(dockerCli.Err(), "\n"+cmd.UsageString())
 		},
+		Tags: map[string]string{"experimental": ""},
 	}
 	cmd.AddCommand(
 		newConfigCommand(dockerCli),
diff --git a/command/stack/deploy.go b/command/stack/deploy.go
index fcf55fb7d2..b0f6b455a8 100644
--- a/command/stack/deploy.go
+++ b/command/stack/deploy.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ func newDeployCommand(dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 			opts.namespace = strings.TrimSuffix(args[0], ".dab")
 			return runDeploy(dockerCli, opts)
 		},
+		Tags: map[string]string{"experimental": ""},
 	}
 
 	flags := cmd.Flags()