diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
index 89c2c455991..cc7f5c46758 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
@@ -514,10 +514,7 @@ func (i *ImagesList) Run(out io.Writer) error {
 
 // AddImagesCommonConfigFlags adds the flags that configure kubeadm (and affect the images kubeadm will use)
 func AddImagesCommonConfigFlags(flagSet *flag.FlagSet, cfg *kubeadmapiv1beta1.InitConfiguration, cfgPath *string, featureGatesString *string) {
-	flagSet.StringVar(
-		&cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion, "kubernetes-version", cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion,
-		`Choose a specific Kubernetes version for the control plane.`,
-	)
+	options.AddKubernetesVersionFlag(flagSet, &cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion)
 	options.AddFeatureGatesStringFlag(flagSet, featureGatesString)
 	flagSet.StringVar(cfgPath, "config", *cfgPath, "Path to kubeadm config file.")
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
index 28df66a11a8..bc21992201e 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
@@ -217,10 +217,9 @@ func AddInitConfigFlags(flagSet *flag.FlagSet, cfg *kubeadmapiv1beta1.InitConfig
 		&cfg.Networking.DNSDomain, options.NetworkingDNSDomain, cfg.Networking.DNSDomain,
 		`Use alternative domain for services, e.g. "myorg.internal".`,
 	)
-	flagSet.StringVar(
-		&cfg.KubernetesVersion, options.KubernetesVersion, cfg.KubernetesVersion,
-		`Choose a specific Kubernetes version for the control plane.`,
-	)
+
+	options.AddKubernetesVersionFlag(flagSet, &cfg.KubernetesVersion)
+
 	flagSet.StringVar(
 		&cfg.CertificatesDir, options.CertificatesDir, cfg.CertificatesDir,
 		`The path where to save and store the certificates.`,
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
index 96206b9b645..b1120783c43 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options/generic.go
@@ -72,3 +72,11 @@ func AddFeatureGatesStringFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet, featureGatesString *string) {
 			"No feature gates are available in this release.")
 	}
 }
+
+// AddKubernetesVersionFlag adds the --kubernetes-version flag to the given flagset
+func AddKubernetesVersionFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet, kubernetesVersion *string) {
+	fs.StringVar(
+		kubernetesVersion, KubernetesVersion, *kubernetesVersion,
+		`Choose a specific Kubernetes version for the control plane.`,
+	)
+}