diff --git a/test/instrumentation/update-stable-metrics.sh b/test/instrumentation/update-stable-metrics.sh
index 99d5be53aef..4cd2c7e2226 100755
--- a/test/instrumentation/update-stable-metrics.sh
+++ b/test/instrumentation/update-stable-metrics.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,16 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../..
+BAZEL_OUT_DIR="$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-bin"
+BAZEL_GEN_DIR="$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-genfiles"
+METRICS_LIST_PATH="test/instrumentation/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
 
 bazel build //test/instrumentation:list_stable_metrics
-cp "$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-genfiles/test/instrumentation/stable-metrics-list.yaml" "$KUBE_ROOT/test/instrumentation/testdata/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
+if [ -d "$BAZEL_OUT_DIR" ]; then
+  cp "$BAZEL_OUT_DIR/$METRICS_LIST_PATH" "$KUBE_ROOT/test/instrumentation/testdata/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
+else
+  # Handle bazel < 0.25
+  # https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/6761
+  echo "$BAZEL_OUT_DIR not found trying $BAZEL_GEN_DIR"
+  cp "$BAZEL_GEN_DIR/$METRICS_LIST_PATH" "$KUBE_ROOT/test/instrumentation/testdata/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
+fi
diff --git a/test/instrumentation/verify-stable-metrics.sh b/test/instrumentation/verify-stable-metrics.sh
index 89d761b1f5e..d0e4cbc26d8 100755
--- a/test/instrumentation/verify-stable-metrics.sh
+++ b/test/instrumentation/verify-stable-metrics.sh
@@ -18,13 +18,23 @@ set -o errexit
 set -o pipefail
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../..
+BAZEL_OUT_DIR="$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-bin"
+BAZEL_GEN_DIR="$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-genfiles"
+METRICS_LIST_PATH="test/instrumentation/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
 
 # detect if run from bazel
 if [ -z "${TEST_BINARY}" ]; then
   bazel build //test/instrumentation:list_stable_metrics
-  OUTPUT_FILE="$KUBE_ROOT/bazel-genfiles/test/instrumentation/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
+
+  if [ -d "$BAZEL_OUT_DIR" ]; then
+    OUTPUT_FILE="$BAZEL_OUT_DIR/$METRICS_LIST_PATH"
+  else
+    # Handle bazel < 0.25
+    # https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/6761
+    OUTPUT_FILE="$BAZEL_GEN_DIR/$METRICS_LIST_PATH"
+  fi
 else
-  OUTPUT_FILE="$KUBE_ROOT/test/instrumentation/stable-metrics-list.yaml"
+  OUTPUT_FILE="$KUBE_ROOT/$METRICS_LIST_PATH"
 fi
 
 if diff -u "$KUBE_ROOT/test/instrumentation/testdata/stable-metrics-list.yaml" "$OUTPUT_FILE"; then