diff --git a/kubespawner/objects.py b/kubespawner/objects.py
index 9df8bf0b..4f842c1d 100644
--- a/kubespawner/objects.py
+++ b/kubespawner/objects.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def make_pod(
     cmd,
     port,
     image,
-    image_pull_policy,
+    image_pull_policy=None,
     image_pull_secrets=None,
     node_selector=None,
     uid=None,
@@ -138,9 +138,9 @@ def make_pod(
         arguments
 
     image_pull_policy:
-        Image pull policy - one of 'Always', 'IfNotPresent' or 'Never'. Decides
+        Image pull policy - one of None, 'Always', 'IfNotPresent' or 'Never'. Decides
         when kubernetes will check for a newer version of image and pull it when
-        running a pod.
+        running a pod. If set to None, it will be omitted from the spec.
 
     image_pull_secrets:
         Image pull secrets - a list of references to Kubernetes Secret resources
diff --git a/kubespawner/spawner.py b/kubespawner/spawner.py
index a69f71dd..84d29cf6 100644
--- a/kubespawner/spawner.py
+++ b/kubespawner/spawner.py
@@ -721,21 +721,16 @@ def _deprecated_changed(self, change):
     )
 
     image_pull_policy = Unicode(
-        'IfNotPresent',
+        None,
+        allow_none=True,
         config=True,
         help="""
         The image pull policy of the docker container specified in
         `image`.
 
-        Defaults to `IfNotPresent` which causes the Kubelet to NOT pull the image
-        specified in KubeSpawner.image if it already exists, except if the tag
-        is `:latest`. For more information on image pull policy,
-        refer to `the Kubernetes documentation <https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/containers/images/>`__.
-
-
-        This configuration is primarily used in development if you are
-        actively changing the `image_spec` and would like to pull the image
-        whenever a user container is spawned.
+        Defaults to `None`, which means it is omitted. This leads to it behaving
+        like 'Always' when a tag is absent or 'latest', and 'IfNotPresent' when
+        the tag is specified to be something else, per https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/containers/images/#imagepullpolicy-defaulting.
         """,
     )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_objects.py b/tests/test_objects.py
index 52fb8d54..479b966e 100644
--- a/tests/test_objects.py
+++ b/tests/test_objects.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ def test_make_simplest_pod():
             image='jupyter/singleuser:latest',
             cmd=['jupyterhub-singleuser'],
             port=8888,
-            image_pull_policy='IfNotPresent',
         )
     ) == {
         "metadata": {"name": "test", "labels": {}, "annotations": {}},
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ def test_make_simplest_pod():
                     "env": [],
                     "name": "notebook",
                     "image": "jupyter/singleuser:latest",
-                    "imagePullPolicy": "IfNotPresent",
                     "args": ["jupyterhub-singleuser"],
                     "ports": [{"name": "notebook-port", "containerPort": 8888}],
                     'volumeMounts': [],