diff --git a/cluster/common.sh b/cluster/common.sh
index d0570ed9afc..0ae153209f9 100755
--- a/cluster/common.sh
+++ b/cluster/common.sh
@@ -314,7 +314,6 @@ function find-tar() {
     "${KUBE_ROOT}/node/${tarball}"
     "${KUBE_ROOT}/server/${tarball}"
     "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/release-tars/${tarball}"
-    "${KUBE_ROOT}/bazel-bin/build/release-tars/${tarball}"
   )
   location=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
 
diff --git a/hack/lib/util.sh b/hack/lib/util.sh
index 2f35f3cf0cb..1e6e80ba7ec 100755
--- a/hack/lib/util.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/util.sh
@@ -219,16 +219,6 @@ kube::util::find-binary-for-platform() {
     );
   fi
 
-  # Also search for binary in bazel build tree if bazel-out/ exists.
-  if [[ -d "${KUBE_ROOT}/bazel-out" ]]; then
-    while IFS=$'\n' read -r bin_build_mode; do
-      if grep -q "${platform}" "${bin_build_mode}"; then
-        # drop the extension to get the real binary path.
-        locations+=("${bin_build_mode%.*}")
-      fi
-    done < <(find "${KUBE_ROOT}/bazel-out/" -name "${lookfor}.go_build_mode")
-  fi
-
   # List most recently-updated location.
   local -r bin=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )