diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
index b7b726a68a0..851732ace99 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade/staticpods.go
@@ -189,10 +189,18 @@ func (spm *KubeStaticPodPathManager) CleanupDirs() error {
 
 func upgradeComponent(component string, certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, waiter apiclient.Waiter, pathMgr StaticPodPathManager, cfg *kubeadmapi.InitConfiguration, beforePodHash string, recoverManifests map[string]string) error {
 	// Special treatment is required for etcd case, when rollbackOldManifests should roll back etcd
-	// manifests only for the case when component is Etcd
+	// manifests only for the case when component is Etcd. Also check if the kube-apiserver needs an upgrade
+	// by comparing its manifests and later decide if etcd certs can be renewed and etcd can be restarted.
 	recoverEtcd := false
+	apiServerUpgrade := false
 	if component == constants.Etcd {
 		recoverEtcd = true
+		equal, _, err := staticpod.ManifestFilesAreEqual(pathMgr.RealManifestPath(constants.KubeAPIServer),
+			pathMgr.TempManifestPath(constants.KubeAPIServer))
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		apiServerUpgrade = !equal
 	}
 
 	fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Preparing for %q upgrade\n", component)
@@ -214,8 +222,12 @@ func upgradeComponent(component string, certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, waiter a
 		return err
 	}
 	if equal {
-		fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Current and new manifests of %s are equal, skipping upgrade\n", component)
-		return nil
+		if !apiServerUpgrade {
+			fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Current and new manifests of %s are equal, skipping upgrade\n", component)
+			return nil
+		}
+		klog.V(4).Infof("[upgrade/staticpods] Current and new manifests of %s are equal, but %s will be upgraded\n",
+			component, constants.KubeAPIServer)
 	} else {
 		klog.V(4).Infof("Pod manifest files diff:\n%s\n", diff)
 	}
@@ -228,6 +240,15 @@ func upgradeComponent(component string, certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, waiter a
 		}
 	}
 
+	// This can only happen if the component is etcd, cert renewal is enabled and kube-apiserver needs an upgrade
+	if equal && certsRenewMgr != nil {
+		fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Restarting the %s static pod and backing up its manifest to %q\n",
+			component, backupManifestPath)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Moving new manifest to %q and backing up old manifest to %q\n",
+			currentManifestPath, backupManifestPath)
+	}
+
 	// Move the old manifest into the old-manifests directory
 	if err := pathMgr.MoveFile(currentManifestPath, backupManifestPath); err != nil {
 		return rollbackOldManifests(recoverManifests, err, pathMgr, recoverEtcd)
@@ -238,8 +259,6 @@ func upgradeComponent(component string, certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, waiter a
 		return rollbackOldManifests(recoverManifests, err, pathMgr, recoverEtcd)
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Moved new manifest to %q and backed up old manifest to %q\n", currentManifestPath, backupManifestPath)
-
 	fmt.Println("[upgrade/staticpods] Waiting for the kubelet to restart the component")
 	fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] This can take up to %v\n", kubeadmapi.GetActiveTimeouts().UpgradeManifests.Duration)
 
@@ -247,8 +266,10 @@ func upgradeComponent(component string, certsRenewMgr *renewal.Manager, waiter a
 	// notice the removal of the Static Pod, leading to a false positive below where we check that the API endpoint is healthy
 	// If we don't do this, there is a case where we remove the Static Pod manifest, kubelet is slow to react, kubeadm checks the
 	// API endpoint below of the OLD Static Pod component and proceeds quickly enough, which might lead to unexpected results.
-	if err := waiter.WaitForStaticPodHashChange(cfg.NodeRegistration.Name, component, beforePodHash); err != nil {
-		return rollbackOldManifests(recoverManifests, err, pathMgr, recoverEtcd)
+	if !equal {
+		if err := waiter.WaitForStaticPodHashChange(cfg.NodeRegistration.Name, component, beforePodHash); err != nil {
+			return rollbackOldManifests(recoverManifests, err, pathMgr, recoverEtcd)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Wait for the static pod component to come up and register itself as a mirror pod
@@ -453,11 +474,16 @@ func StaticPodControlPlane(client clientset.Interface, waiter apiclient.Waiter,
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Write the updated static Pod manifests into the temporary directory.
+	// As part of the design, this must be called before the below performEtcdStaticPodUpgrade() call.
+	fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Writing new Static Pod manifests to %q\n", pathMgr.TempManifestDir())
+	err = controlplane.CreateInitStaticPodManifestFiles(pathMgr.TempManifestDir(), pathMgr.PatchesDir(), cfg, false /* isDryRun */)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "error creating init static pod manifest files")
+	}
+
 	// etcd upgrade is done prior to other control plane components
 	if !isExternalEtcd && etcdUpgrade {
-		// set the TLS upgrade flag for all components
-		fmt.Printf("[upgrade/etcd] Upgrading to TLS for %s\n", constants.Etcd)
-
 		// Perform etcd upgrade using common to all control plane components function
 		fatal, err := performEtcdStaticPodUpgrade(certsRenewMgr, client, waiter, pathMgr, cfg, recoverManifests, oldEtcdClient, newEtcdClient)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -468,13 +494,7 @@ func StaticPodControlPlane(client clientset.Interface, waiter apiclient.Waiter,
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Write the updated static Pod manifests into the temporary directory
-	fmt.Printf("[upgrade/staticpods] Writing new Static Pod manifests to %q\n", pathMgr.TempManifestDir())
-	err = controlplane.CreateInitStaticPodManifestFiles(pathMgr.TempManifestDir(), pathMgr.PatchesDir(), cfg, false /* isDryRun */)
-	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "error creating init static pod manifest files")
-	}
-
+	// Upgrade the rest of the control plane components
 	for _, component := range constants.ControlPlaneComponents {
 		if err = upgradeComponent(component, certsRenewMgr, waiter, pathMgr, cfg, beforePodHashMap[component], recoverManifests); err != nil {
 			return err