diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
index 5de0e646fa8..af3d40786bf 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
@@ -832,9 +832,15 @@ func (ImagePullCheck) Name() string {
 
 // Check pulls images required by kubeadm. This is a mutating check
 func (ipc ImagePullCheck) Check() (warnings, errorList []error) {
+	policy := ipc.imagePullPolicy
+	if len(policy) == 0 {
+		policy = v1.PullIfNotPresent // Default behavior if the policy is unset
+	}
+	klog.V(1).Infof("using image pull policy: %s", policy)
 	for _, image := range ipc.imageList {
-		switch ipc.imagePullPolicy {
+		switch policy {
 		case v1.PullNever:
+			klog.V(1).Infof("skipping pull of image: %s", image)
 			continue
 		case v1.PullIfNotPresent:
 			ret, err := ipc.runtime.ImageExists(image)
@@ -845,11 +851,16 @@ func (ipc ImagePullCheck) Check() (warnings, errorList []error) {
 			if err != nil {
 				errorList = append(errorList, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to check if image %s exists", image))
 			}
-		}
-
-		klog.V(1).Infof("pulling %s", image)
-		if err := ipc.runtime.PullImage(image); err != nil {
-			errorList = append(errorList, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to pull image %s", image))
+			fallthrough // Proceed with pulling the image if it does not exist
+		case v1.PullAlways:
+			klog.V(1).Infof("pulling: %s", image)
+			if err := ipc.runtime.PullImage(image); err != nil {
+				errorList = append(errorList, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to pull image %s", image))
+			}
+		default:
+			// If the policy is unknown return early with an error
+			errorList = append(errorList, errors.Errorf("unsupported pull policy %q", policy))
+			return warnings, errorList
 		}
 	}
 	return warnings, errorList
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks_test.go
index a7f923f6c72..e19ccd157c5 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 
-	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
@@ -924,7 +923,7 @@ func TestImagePullCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	check := ImagePullCheck{
 		runtime:         containerRuntime,
 		imageList:       []string{"img1", "img2", "img3"},
-		imagePullPolicy: v1.PullIfNotPresent,
+		imagePullPolicy: "", // should be defaulted to v1.PullIfNotPresent
 	}
 	warnings, errors := check.Check()
 	if len(warnings) != 0 {