diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 21348a42cba..d7fe106ae49 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ env:
     - GOX_FLAGS="-arch amd64"
     - DOCKER_COMPOSE_VERSION=1.11.1
     - GO_VERSION="$(cat .go-version)"
+    # Newer versions of minikube fail on travis, see: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/2704
     - TRAVIS_MINIKUBE_VERSION=v0.25.2
 
 jobs:
@@ -109,18 +110,6 @@ jobs:
       stage: test
 
     # Kubernetes
-    - os: linux
-      install: deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
-      env:
-        - TARGETS="-C deploy/kubernetes test"
-        - TRAVIS_K8S_VERSION=v1.6.4
-      stage: test
-    - os: linux
-      install: deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
-      env:
-        - TARGETS="-C deploy/kubernetes test"
-        - TRAVIS_K8S_VERSION=v1.7.5
-      stage: test
     - os: linux
       install: deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
       env:
@@ -139,6 +128,13 @@ jobs:
         - TARGETS="-C deploy/kubernetes test"
         - TRAVIS_K8S_VERSION=v1.10.0
       stage: test
+    # TODO include 1.11 once minikube supports it
+    #- os: linux
+    #  install: deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
+    #  env:
+    #    - TARGETS="-C deploy/kubernetes test"
+    #    - TRAVIS_K8S_VERSION=v1.11.0
+    #  stage: test
 
 addons:
   apt:
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh b/deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
index 1e2bb57ad29..41ba277cd9f 100755
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/.travis/setup.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 set -x
+set -e
 
 export CHANGE_MINIKUBE_NONE_USER=true
 
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ curl -Lo kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/$TRAV
       chmod +x kubectl && sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/
 curl -Lo minikube https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/$TRAVIS_MINIKUBE_VERSION/minikube-linux-amd64 && chmod +x minikube && sudo mv minikube /usr/local/bin/
 sudo minikube start --vm-driver=none --kubernetes-version=$TRAVIS_K8S_VERSION --logtostderr
-minikube update-context
+sudo minikube update-context
 JSONPATH='{range .items[*]}{@.metadata.name}:{range @.status.conditions[*]}{@.type}={@.status};{end}{end}'; \
         until kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath="$JSONPATH" 2>&1 | grep -q "Ready=True"; do sleep 1; done
 
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat-kubernetes.yaml b/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat-kubernetes.yaml
index 91887eb374e..16e886c35a2 100644
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat-kubernetes.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat-kubernetes.yaml
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           defaultMode: 0600
           name: filebeat-inputs
-      # We set an `emptyDir` here to ensure the manifest will deploy correctly.
-      # It's recommended to change this to a `hostPath` folder, to ensure internal data
-      # files survive pod changes (ie: version upgrade)
+      # data folder stores a registry of read status for all files, so we don't send everything again on a Filebeat pod restart
       - name: data
-        emptyDir: {}
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/lib/filebeat-data
+          type: DirectoryOrCreate
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: ClusterRoleBinding
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat/filebeat-daemonset.yaml b/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat/filebeat-daemonset.yaml
index a04fceea19c..82a90a35455 100644
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat/filebeat-daemonset.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat/filebeat-daemonset.yaml
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           defaultMode: 0600
           name: filebeat-inputs
-      # We set an `emptyDir` here to ensure the manifest will deploy correctly.
-      # It's recommended to change this to a `hostPath` folder, to ensure internal data
-      # files survive pod changes (ie: version upgrade)
+      # data folder stores a registry of read status for all files, so we don't send everything again on a Filebeat pod restart
       - name: data
-        emptyDir: {}
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/lib/filebeat-data
+          type: DirectoryOrCreate
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat-kubernetes.yaml b/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat-kubernetes.yaml
index d8ef660cf25..9c59a79ab0e 100644
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat-kubernetes.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat-kubernetes.yaml
@@ -151,11 +151,10 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           defaultMode: 0600
           name: metricbeat-daemonset-modules
-      # We set an `emptyDir` here to ensure the manifest will deploy correctly.
-      # It's recommended to change this to a `hostPath` folder, to ensure internal data
-      # files survive pod changes (ie: version upgrade)
       - name: data
-        emptyDir: {}
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/lib/metricbeat-data
+          type: DirectoryOrCreate
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ConfigMap
diff --git a/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat/metricbeat-daemonset.yaml b/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat/metricbeat-daemonset.yaml
index 6f54deb828c..c315a6e34b4 100644
--- a/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat/metricbeat-daemonset.yaml
+++ b/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat/metricbeat-daemonset.yaml
@@ -79,8 +79,7 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           defaultMode: 0600
           name: metricbeat-daemonset-modules
-      # We set an `emptyDir` here to ensure the manifest will deploy correctly.
-      # It's recommended to change this to a `hostPath` folder, to ensure internal data
-      # files survive pod changes (ie: version upgrade)
       - name: data
-        emptyDir: {}
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/lib/metricbeat-data
+          type: DirectoryOrCreate
diff --git a/filebeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc b/filebeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
index a5f46106e81..9a1204cf217 100644
--- a/filebeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
+++ b/filebeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ To get the manifests just run:
 curl -L -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elastic/beats/{doc-branch}/deploy/kubernetes/filebeat-kubernetes.yaml
 ------------------------------------------------
 
+[WARNING]
+=======================================
+If you are using Kubernetes 1.7 or earlier: {beatname_uc} uses a hostPath volume to persist internal data, it's located
+under /var/lib/{beatname_lc}-data. The manifest uses folder autocreation (`DirectoryOrCreate`), which was introduced in
+Kubernetes 1.8. You will need to remove `type: DirectoryOrCreate` from the manifest and create the host folder yourself.
+=======================================
+
 [float]
 ==== Settings
 
diff --git a/metricbeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc b/metricbeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
index dd7105ff1ff..6a0efbe95e2 100644
--- a/metricbeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
+++ b/metricbeat/docs/running-on-kubernetes.asciidoc
@@ -36,6 +36,13 @@ To get the manifests just run:
 curl -L -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elastic/beats/{doc-branch}/deploy/kubernetes/metricbeat-kubernetes.yaml
 ------------------------------------------------
 
+[WARNING]
+=======================================
+If you are using Kubernetes 1.7 or earlier: {beatname_uc} uses a hostPath volume to persist internal data, it's located
+under /var/lib/{beatname_lc}-data. The manifest uses folder autocreation (`DirectoryOrCreate`), which was introduced in
+Kubernetes 1.8. You will need to remove `type: DirectoryOrCreate` from the manifest and create the host folder yourself.
+=======================================
+
 [float]
 ==== Settings