diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
index 5ec99c4e260..f853a468735 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/upgrade/node/kubeletconfig.go
@@ -20,15 +20,21 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
+	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
+	kubeadmapiv1 "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta3"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/options"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/workflow"
 	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 	kubeletphase "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/kubelet"
+	patchnodephase "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/patchnode"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade"
+	configutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config"
 	dryrunutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/dryrun"
 )
 
@@ -86,6 +92,31 @@ func runKubeletConfigPhase() func(c workflow.RunData) error {
 			return nil
 		}
 
+		// Handle a dupliate prefix URL scheme in the Node CRI socket.
+		// Older versions of kubeadm(v1.24.0~2) upgrade may add one or two extra prefix `unix://`
+		// TODO: this fix can be removed in 1.26 once all user node sockets have a correct URL scheme:
+		// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubeadm/issues/2426
+		var dupURLScheme bool
+		nro := &kubeadmapi.NodeRegistrationOptions{}
+		if !dryRun {
+			if err := configutil.GetNodeRegistration(data.KubeConfigPath(), data.Client(), nro); err != nil {
+				return errors.Wrap(err, "could not retrieve the node registration options for this node")
+			}
+			dupURLScheme = strings.HasPrefix(nro.CRISocket, kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://"+kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://")
+		}
+		if dupURLScheme {
+			if !dryRun {
+				newSocket := strings.ReplaceAll(nro.CRISocket, kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://", "")
+				newSocket = kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme + "://" + newSocket
+				klog.V(2).Infof("ensuring that Node %q has a CRI socket annotation with correct URL scheme %q", nro.Name, newSocket)
+				if err := patchnodephase.AnnotateCRISocket(data.Client(), nro.Name, newSocket); err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrapf(err, "error updating the CRI socket for Node %q", nro.Name)
+				}
+			} else {
+				fmt.Println("[upgrade] Would update the node CRI socket path to remove dup URL scheme prefix")
+			}
+		}
+
 		fmt.Println("[upgrade] The configuration for this node was successfully updated!")
 		fmt.Println("[upgrade] Now you should go ahead and upgrade the kubelet package using your package manager.")
 		return nil
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/common.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/common.go
index 8e02e0d4c6c..fbe31298aa4 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/common.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/common.go
@@ -35,11 +35,13 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
 	kubeadmapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
+	kubeadmapiv1 "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta3"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/validation"
 	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/componentconfigs"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/features"
+	patchnodephase "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/patchnode"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/upgrade"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/phases/uploadconfig"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight"
@@ -223,6 +225,24 @@ func enforceRequirements(flags *applyPlanFlags, args []string, dryRun bool, upgr
 		printConfiguration(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration, os.Stdout, printer)
 	}
 
+	// Handle a dupliate prefix URL scheme in the Node CRI socket.
+	// Older versions of kubeadm(v1.24.0~2) upgrade may add one or two extra prefix `unix://`
+	// TODO: this fix can be removed in 1.26 once all user node sockets have a correct URL scheme:
+	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubeadm/issues/2426
+	dupURLScheme := strings.HasPrefix(cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket, kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://"+kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://")
+	if dupURLScheme {
+		socket := strings.ReplaceAll(cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket, kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme+"://", "")
+		cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket = kubeadmapiv1.DefaultContainerRuntimeURLScheme + "://" + socket
+		hostname, err := os.Hostname()
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to get hostname")
+		}
+		klog.V(2).Infof("ensuring that Node %q has a CRI socket annotation with correct URL scheme %q", hostname, cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket)
+		if err := patchnodephase.AnnotateCRISocket(client, hostname, cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket); err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "error updating the CRI socket for Node %q", cfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Use a real version getter interface that queries the API server, the kubeadm client and the Kubernetes CI system for latest versions
 	return client, upgrade.NewOfflineVersionGetter(upgrade.NewKubeVersionGetter(client), newK8sVersion), cfg, nil
 }