diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/data.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/data.go
index 91339d9aec2..2568d00f566 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/data.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/data.go
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ type Data interface {
 	EtcdUpgrade() bool
 	RenewCerts() bool
 	DryRun() bool
-	KubeletVersion() string
 	Cfg() *kubeadmapi.InitConfiguration
 	IsControlPlaneNode() bool
 	Client() clientset.Interface
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
index e6a50d7d8c8..d4602fea94d 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ func NewKubeletConfigPhase() workflow.Phase {
 		InheritFlags: []string{
 			options.DryRun,
 			options.KubeconfigPath,
-			options.KubeletVersion,
 		},
 	}
 	return phase
@@ -76,17 +75,7 @@ func runKubeletConfigPhase() func(c workflow.RunData) error {
 		// TODO: Checkpoint the current configuration first so that if something goes wrong it can be recovered
 
 		// Store the kubelet component configuration.
-		// By default the kubelet version is expected to be equal to cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion, but
-		// users can specify a different kubelet version (this is a legacy of the original implementation
-		// of `kubeadm upgrade node config` which we are preserving in order to not break the GA contract)
-		if data.KubeletVersion() != "" && data.KubeletVersion() != cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion {
-			fmt.Printf("[upgrade] Using kubelet config version %s, while kubernetes-version is %s\n", data.KubeletVersion(), cfg.ClusterConfiguration.KubernetesVersion)
-			if err := kubeletphase.DownloadConfig(data.Client(), data.KubeletVersion(), kubeletDir); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-
-			// WriteConfigToDisk is what we should be calling since we already have the correct component config loaded
-		} else if err = kubeletphase.WriteConfigToDisk(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration, kubeletDir); err != nil {
+		if err = kubeletphase.WriteConfigToDisk(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration, kubeletDir); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
index 6103d780938..d3d013177d2 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ import (
 // supported by this api will be exposed as a flag.
 type nodeOptions struct {
 	kubeConfigPath        string
-	kubeletVersion        string
 	etcdUpgrade           bool
 	renewCerts            bool
 	dryRun                bool
@@ -57,7 +56,6 @@ type nodeData struct {
 	etcdUpgrade           bool
 	renewCerts            bool
 	dryRun                bool
-	kubeletVersion        string
 	cfg                   *kubeadmapi.InitConfiguration
 	isControlPlaneNode    bool
 	client                clientset.Interface
@@ -117,8 +115,6 @@ func newNodeOptions() *nodeOptions {
 func addUpgradeNodeFlags(flagSet *flag.FlagSet, nodeOptions *nodeOptions) {
 	options.AddKubeConfigFlag(flagSet, &nodeOptions.kubeConfigPath)
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&nodeOptions.dryRun, options.DryRun, nodeOptions.dryRun, "Do not change any state, just output the actions that would be performed.")
-	flagSet.StringVar(&nodeOptions.kubeletVersion, options.KubeletVersion, nodeOptions.kubeletVersion, "The *desired* version for the kubelet config after the upgrade. If not specified, the KubernetesVersion from the kubeadm-config ConfigMap will be used")
-	flagSet.MarkDeprecated(options.KubeletVersion, "This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.")
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&nodeOptions.renewCerts, options.CertificateRenewal, nodeOptions.renewCerts, "Perform the renewal of certificates used by component changed during upgrades.")
 	flagSet.BoolVar(&nodeOptions.etcdUpgrade, options.EtcdUpgrade, nodeOptions.etcdUpgrade, "Perform the upgrade of etcd.")
 	flagSet.StringSliceVar(&nodeOptions.ignorePreflightErrors, options.IgnorePreflightErrors, nodeOptions.ignorePreflightErrors, "A list of checks whose errors will be shown as warnings. Example: 'IsPrivilegedUser,Swap'. Value 'all' ignores errors from all checks.")
@@ -160,7 +156,6 @@ func newNodeData(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, options *nodeOptions) (*node
 		etcdUpgrade:           options.etcdUpgrade,
 		renewCerts:            options.renewCerts,
 		dryRun:                options.dryRun,
-		kubeletVersion:        options.kubeletVersion,
 		cfg:                   cfg,
 		client:                client,
 		isControlPlaneNode:    isControlPlaneNode,
@@ -185,11 +180,6 @@ func (d *nodeData) RenewCerts() bool {
 	return d.renewCerts
 }
 
-// KubeletVersion returns the kubeletVersion flag.
-func (d *nodeData) KubeletVersion() string {
-	return d.kubeletVersion
-}
-
 // Cfg returns initConfiguration.
 func (d *nodeData) Cfg() *kubeadmapi.InitConfiguration {
 	return d.cfg