diff --git a/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec.go b/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec.go
index a56abd29..627bb2de 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec.go
@@ -237,6 +237,15 @@ type credentials struct {
 // UpdateTransportConfig updates the transport.Config to use credentials
 // returned by the plugin.
 func (a *Authenticator) UpdateTransportConfig(c *transport.Config) error {
+	// If a bearer token is present in the request - avoid the GetCert callback when
+	// setting up the transport, as that triggers the exec action if the server is
+	// also configured to allow client certificates for authentication. For requests
+	// like "kubectl get --token (token) pods" we should assume the intention is to
+	// use the provided token for authentication.
+	if c.HasTokenAuth() {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	c.Wrap(func(rt http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTripper {
 		return &roundTripper{a, rt}
 	})
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec_test.go b/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec_test.go
index 8f5f6e60..43b9c087 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec_test.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/client/auth/exec/exec_test.go
@@ -651,6 +651,27 @@ func TestRoundTripper(t *testing.T) {
 	get(t, http.StatusOK)
 }
 
+func TestTokenPresentCancelsExecAction(t *testing.T) {
+	a, err := newAuthenticator(newCache(), &api.ExecConfig{
+		Command:    "./testdata/test-plugin.sh",
+		APIVersion: "client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// UpdateTransportConfig returns error on existing TLS certificate callback, unless a bearer token is present in the
+	// transport config, in which case it takes precedence
+	cert := func() (*tls.Certificate, error) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	tc := &transport.Config{BearerToken: "token1", TLS: transport.TLSConfig{Insecure: true, GetCert: cert}}
+
+	if err := a.UpdateTransportConfig(tc); err != nil {
+		t.Error("Expected presence of bearer token in config to cancel exec action")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestTLSCredentials(t *testing.T) {
 	now := time.Now()