diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 6f640c359a3..a1dd15cb5c7 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ const (
 	evictionMonitoringPeriod = time.Second * 10
 
 	// The path in containers' filesystems where the hosts file is mounted.
-	etcHostsPath = "/etc/hosts"
+	linuxEtcHostsPath   = "/etc/hosts"
+	windowsEtcHostsPath = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts"
 
 	// Capacity of the channel for receiving pod lifecycle events. This number
 	// is a bit arbitrary and may be adjusted in the future.
@@ -177,6 +178,15 @@ const (
 	nodeLeaseRenewIntervalFraction = 0.25
 )
 
+var etcHostsPath = getContainerEtcHostsPath()
+
+func getContainerEtcHostsPath() string {
+	if sysruntime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		return windowsEtcHostsPath
+	}
+	return linuxEtcHostsPath
+}
+
 // SyncHandler is an interface implemented by Kubelet, for testability
 type SyncHandler interface {
 	HandlePodAdditions(pods []*v1.Pod)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
index db2be71c777..45daf137a04 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
@@ -141,14 +141,15 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) makeBlockVolumes(pod *v1.Pod, container *v1.Container, podVol
 }
 
 // makeMounts determines the mount points for the given container.
-func makeMounts(pod *v1.Pod, podDir string, container *v1.Container, hostName, hostDomain string, podIPs []string, podVolumes kubecontainer.VolumeMap, hu hostutil.HostUtils, subpather subpath.Interface, expandEnvs []kubecontainer.EnvVar) ([]kubecontainer.Mount, func(), error) {
+func makeMounts(pod *v1.Pod, podDir string, container *v1.Container, hostName, hostDomain string, podIPs []string, podVolumes kubecontainer.VolumeMap, hu hostutil.HostUtils, subpather subpath.Interface, expandEnvs []kubecontainer.EnvVar, supportsSingleFileMapping bool) ([]kubecontainer.Mount, func(), error) {
 	// Kubernetes only mounts on /etc/hosts if:
 	// - container is not an infrastructure (pause) container
 	// - container is not already mounting on /etc/hosts
 	// - OS is not Windows
+	// - if it is Windows, ContainerD is used.
 	// Kubernetes will not mount /etc/hosts if:
 	// - when the Pod sandbox is being created, its IP is still unknown. Hence, PodIP will not have been set.
-	mountEtcHostsFile := len(podIPs) > 0 && runtime.GOOS != "windows"
+	mountEtcHostsFile := len(podIPs) > 0 && supportsSingleFileMapping
 	klog.V(3).Infof("container: %v/%v/%v podIPs: %q creating hosts mount: %v", pod.Namespace, pod.Name, container.Name, podIPs, mountEtcHostsFile)
 	mounts := []kubecontainer.Mount{}
 	var cleanupAction func()
@@ -302,7 +303,9 @@ func translateMountPropagation(mountMode *v1.MountPropagationMode) (runtimeapi.M
 
 // getEtcHostsPath returns the full host-side path to a pod's generated /etc/hosts file
 func getEtcHostsPath(podDir string) string {
-	return path.Join(podDir, "etc-hosts")
+	hostsFilePath := path.Join(podDir, "etc-hosts")
+	// Volume Mounts fail on Windows if it is not of the form C:/
+	return volumeutil.MakeAbsolutePath(runtime.GOOS, hostsFilePath)
 }
 
 // makeHostsMount makes the mountpoint for the hosts file that the containers
@@ -488,8 +491,10 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) GenerateRunContainerOptions(pod *v1.Pod, container *v1.Contai
 	}
 	opts.Envs = append(opts.Envs, envs...)
 
+	// we can only mount individual files (e.g.: /etc/hosts, termination-log files) on Windows only if we're using Containerd.
+	supportsSingleFileMapping := kl.containerRuntime.SupportsSingleFileMapping()
 	// only podIPs is sent to makeMounts, as podIPs is populated even if dual-stack feature flag is not enabled.
-	mounts, cleanupAction, err := makeMounts(pod, kl.getPodDir(pod.UID), container, hostname, hostDomainName, podIPs, volumes, kl.hostutil, kl.subpather, opts.Envs)
+	mounts, cleanupAction, err := makeMounts(pod, kl.getPodDir(pod.UID), container, hostname, hostDomainName, podIPs, volumes, kl.hostutil, kl.subpather, opts.Envs, supportsSingleFileMapping)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, cleanupAction, err
 	}
@@ -497,7 +502,6 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) GenerateRunContainerOptions(pod *v1.Pod, container *v1.Contai
 
 	// adding TerminationMessagePath on Windows is only allowed if ContainerD is used. Individual files cannot
 	// be mounted as volumes using Docker for Windows.
-	supportsSingleFileMapping := kl.containerRuntime.SupportsSingleFileMapping()
 	if len(container.TerminationMessagePath) != 0 && supportsSingleFileMapping {
 		p := kl.getPodContainerDir(pod.UID, container.Name)
 		if err := os.MkdirAll(p, 0750); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_linux_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_linux_test.go
index d60d95a49fc..21074ebb561 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_linux_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_linux_test.go
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ func TestMakeMounts(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			}
 
-			mounts, _, err := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &tc.container, "fakepodname", "", []string{""}, tc.podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil)
+			mounts, _, err := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &tc.container, "fakepodname", "", []string{""}, tc.podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil, false)
 
 			// validate only the error if we expect an error
 			if tc.expectErr {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_test.go
index 337c94928f9..d93e1a9a2e2 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_test.go
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func TestDisabledSubpath(t *testing.T) {
 
 	defer featuregatetesting.SetFeatureGateDuringTest(t, utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate, features.VolumeSubpath, false)()
 	for name, test := range cases {
-		_, _, err := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &test.container, "fakepodname", "", []string{}, podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil)
+		_, _, err := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &test.container, "fakepodname", "", []string{}, podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil, false)
 		if err != nil && !test.expectError {
 			t.Errorf("test %v failed: %v", name, err)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_windows_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_windows_test.go
index cb0bab98bfe..71067c47453 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_windows_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods_windows_test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestMakeMountsWindows(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fhu := hostutil.NewFakeHostUtil(nil)
 	fsp := &subpath.FakeSubpath{}
-	mounts, _, _ := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &container, "fakepodname", "", []string{""}, podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil)
+	mounts, _, _ := makeMounts(&pod, "/pod", &container, "fakepodname", "", []string{""}, podVolumes, fhu, fsp, nil, false)
 
 	expectedMounts := []kubecontainer.Mount{
 		{