diff --git a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
index ef62c5331..2ed64424f 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/cloudprovider"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/cmd"
+	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/cmd/util/flag"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/cmd/util/signals"
 	"github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/controller"
 	arkdiscovery "github.com/heptio/ark/pkg/discovery"
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ type serverConfig struct {
 	pluginDir, metricsAddress, defaultBackupLocation string
 	backupSyncPeriod, podVolumeOperationTimeout      time.Duration
 	restoreResourcePriorities                        []string
+	defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations                   map[string]string
 	restoreOnly                                      bool
 }
 
@@ -87,12 +89,13 @@ func NewCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	var (
 		logLevelFlag = logging.LogLevelFlag(logrus.InfoLevel)
 		config       = serverConfig{
-			pluginDir:                 "/plugins",
-			metricsAddress:            defaultMetricsAddress,
-			defaultBackupLocation:     "default",
-			backupSyncPeriod:          defaultBackupSyncPeriod,
-			podVolumeOperationTimeout: defaultPodVolumeOperationTimeout,
-			restoreResourcePriorities: defaultRestorePriorities,
+			pluginDir:                      "/plugins",
+			metricsAddress:                 defaultMetricsAddress,
+			defaultBackupLocation:          "default",
+			defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations: make(map[string]string),
+			backupSyncPeriod:               defaultBackupSyncPeriod,
+			podVolumeOperationTimeout:      defaultPodVolumeOperationTimeout,
+			restoreResourcePriorities:      defaultRestorePriorities,
 		}
 	)
 
@@ -144,6 +147,12 @@ func NewCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	command.Flags().StringSliceVar(&config.restoreResourcePriorities, "restore-resource-priorities", config.restoreResourcePriorities, "desired order of resource restores; any resource not in the list will be restored alphabetically after the prioritized resources")
 	command.Flags().StringVar(&config.defaultBackupLocation, "default-backup-storage-location", config.defaultBackupLocation, "name of the default backup storage location")
 
+	volumeSnapshotLocations := flag.NewMap().WithKeyValueDelimiter(":")
+	command.Flags().Var(&volumeSnapshotLocations, "default-volume-snapshot-locations", "list of unique volume providers and default volume snapshot location (provider1:location-01, provider2:location-02, ...)")
+	if volumeSnapshotLocations.Data() != nil {
+		config.defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations = volumeSnapshotLocations.Data()
+	}
+
 	return command
 }
 
@@ -277,6 +286,11 @@ func (s *server) run() error {
 			Warnf("Default backup storage location %q not found; backups must explicitly specify a location", s.config.defaultBackupLocation)
 	}
 
+	defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations, err := s.getDefaultVolumeSnapshotLocations()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	if config.PersistentVolumeProvider == nil {
 		s.logger.Info("PersistentVolumeProvider config not provided, volume snapshots and restores are disabled")
 	} else {
@@ -292,13 +306,50 @@ func (s *server) run() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if err := s.runControllers(config); err != nil {
+	if err := s.runControllers(config, defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (s *server) getDefaultVolumeSnapshotLocations() (map[string]*api.VolumeSnapshotLocation, error) {
+	providerDefaults := make(map[string]*api.VolumeSnapshotLocation)
+	if len(s.config.defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations) == 0 {
+		return providerDefaults, nil
+	}
+
+	volumeSnapshotLocations, err := s.arkClient.ArkV1().VolumeSnapshotLocations(s.namespace).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		return providerDefaults, errors.WithStack(err)
+	}
+
+	providerLocations := make(map[string][]*api.VolumeSnapshotLocation)
+	for _, vsl := range volumeSnapshotLocations.Items {
+		providerLocations[vsl.Spec.Provider] = append(providerLocations[vsl.Spec.Provider], &vsl)
+	}
+
+	for provider, locations := range providerLocations {
+		defaultLocation, ok := s.config.defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations[provider]
+		if !ok {
+			return providerDefaults, errors.Errorf("missing provider %s. When using default volume snapshot locations, one must exist for every known provider.", provider)
+		}
+
+		for _, location := range locations {
+			if location.ObjectMeta.Name == defaultLocation {
+				providerDefaults[provider] = location
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		if _, ok := providerDefaults[provider]; !ok {
+			return providerDefaults, errors.Errorf("%s is not a valid volume snapshot location for %s", defaultLocation, provider)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return providerDefaults, nil
+}
+
 func (s *server) applyConfigDefaults(c *api.Config) {
 	if s.config.backupSyncPeriod == 0 {
 		s.config.backupSyncPeriod = defaultBackupSyncPeriod
@@ -572,7 +623,7 @@ func (s *server) initRestic() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (s *server) runControllers(config *api.Config) error {
+func (s *server) runControllers(config *api.Config, defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations map[string]*api.VolumeSnapshotLocation) error {
 	s.logger.Info("Starting controllers")
 
 	ctx := s.ctx
@@ -637,7 +688,7 @@ func (s *server) runControllers(config *api.Config) error {
 			s.sharedInformerFactory.Ark().V1().BackupStorageLocations(),
 			s.config.defaultBackupLocation,
 			s.sharedInformerFactory.Ark().V1().VolumeSnapshotLocations(),
-			nil,
+			s.config.defaultVolumeSnapshotLocations,
 			s.metrics,
 		)
 		wg.Add(1)