diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager.go
index 84f239157d0..f3503d6ba8c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager.go
@@ -132,8 +132,7 @@ func NewManager(cpuPolicyName string, reconcilePeriod time.Duration, machineInfo
 		policy = NewStaticPolicy(topo, numReservedCPUs)
 
 	default:
-		klog.Errorf("[cpumanager] Unknown policy \"%s\", falling back to default policy \"%s\"", cpuPolicyName, PolicyNone)
-		policy = NewNonePolicy()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown policy: \"%s\"", cpuPolicyName)
 	}
 
 	stateImpl, err := state.NewCheckpointState(stateFileDirectory, cpuManagerStateFileName, policy.Name())
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager_test.go
index 5d08b84cbf7..1bb68dcb772 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/cpumanager/cpu_manager_test.go
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func TestCPUManagerGenerate(t *testing.T) {
 			description:                "invalid policy name",
 			cpuPolicyName:              "invalid",
 			nodeAllocatableReservation: nil,
-			expectedPolicy:             "none",
+			expectedError:              fmt.Errorf("unknown policy: \"invalid\""),
 		},
 		{
 			description:                "static policy",