diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/BUILD b/cmd/kubelet/app/BUILD
index 01b645bd52e..598bd8653bc 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/BUILD
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/volume/scaleio:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/volume/secret:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/volume/storageos:go_default_library",
-        "//pkg/volume/util/nsenter:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/volume/util/subpath:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/volume/vsphere_volume:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1:go_default_library",
@@ -144,7 +143,6 @@ go_library(
         "//vendor/github.com/spf13/pflag:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/klog:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/utils/exec:go_default_library",
-        "//vendor/k8s.io/utils/nsenter:go_default_library",
     ] + select({
         "@io_bazel_rules_go//go/platform:linux": [
             "//vendor/github.com/sigma/go-inotify:go_default_library",
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
index 3b49f837c39..712760967e0 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
@@ -126,8 +126,6 @@ type KubeletFlags struct {
 	// Its corresponding flag only gets registered in Windows builds.
 	WindowsService bool
 
-	// containerized should be set to true if kubelet is running in a container.
-	Containerized bool
 	// remoteRuntimeEndpoint is the endpoint of remote runtime service
 	RemoteRuntimeEndpoint string
 	// remoteImageEndpoint is the endpoint of remote image service
@@ -401,8 +399,6 @@ func (f *KubeletFlags) AddFlags(mainfs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fs.Int32Var(&f.NodeStatusMaxImages, "node-status-max-images", f.NodeStatusMaxImages, "<Warning: Alpha feature> The maximum number of images to report in Node.Status.Images. If -1 is specified, no cap will be applied.")
 
 	// DEPRECATED FLAGS
-	fs.BoolVar(&f.Containerized, "containerized", f.Containerized, "Running kubelet in a container.")
-	fs.MarkDeprecated("containerized", "This feature will be removed in a later release.")
 	fs.StringVar(&f.BootstrapKubeconfig, "experimental-bootstrap-kubeconfig", f.BootstrapKubeconfig, "")
 	fs.MarkDeprecated("experimental-bootstrap-kubeconfig", "Use --bootstrap-kubeconfig")
 	fs.DurationVar(&f.MinimumGCAge.Duration, "minimum-container-ttl-duration", f.MinimumGCAge.Duration, "Minimum age for a finished container before it is garbage collected.  Examples: '300ms', '10s' or '2h45m'")
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 614d9035aef..1f357a4ad90 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -97,10 +97,8 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/rlimit"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/version"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
-	nsutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/volume/util/nsenter"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/volume/util/subpath"
 	"k8s.io/utils/exec"
-	"k8s.io/utils/nsenter"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -373,22 +371,6 @@ func UnsecuredDependencies(s *options.KubeletServer) (*kubelet.Dependencies, err
 	subpather := subpath.New(mounter)
 	hu := mount.NewHostUtil()
 	var pluginRunner = exec.New()
-	if s.Containerized {
-		klog.V(2).Info("Running kubelet in containerized mode")
-		ne, err := nsenter.NewNsenter(nsenter.DefaultHostRootFsPath, exec.New())
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		mounter = nsutil.NewMounter(s.RootDirectory, ne)
-		// NSenter only valid on Linux
-		subpather = subpath.NewNSEnter(mounter, ne, s.RootDirectory)
-		hu = nsutil.NewHostUtil(ne, s.RootDirectory)
-		// an exec interface which can use nsenter for flex plugin calls
-		pluginRunner, err = nsenter.NewNsenter(nsenter.DefaultHostRootFsPath, exec.New())
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-	}
 
 	var dockerClientConfig *dockershim.ClientConfig
 	if s.ContainerRuntime == kubetypes.DockerContainerRuntime {