diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/go.mod
index 1b5baab3e37..ef4d23d915f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/go.mod
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/kube-openapi v0.0.0-20211115234752-e816edb12b65
+	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20220210201930-3a6ce19ff2f9
 	sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api v0.10.1
 	sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml v0.13.0
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.2.0
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions/config_flags.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions/config_flags.go
index 2d939c7bd68..b54c3ac6c55 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions/config_flags.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions/config_flags.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/client-go/restmapper"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/clientcmd"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/util/homedir"
+	utilpointer "k8s.io/utils/pointer"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ func (f *ConfigFlags) toDiscoveryClient() (discovery.CachedDiscoveryInterface, e
 	httpCacheDir := filepath.Join(cacheDir, "http")
 	discoveryCacheDir := computeDiscoverCacheDir(filepath.Join(cacheDir, "discovery"), config.Host)
 
-	return diskcached.NewCachedDiscoveryClientForConfig(config, discoveryCacheDir, httpCacheDir, time.Duration(10*time.Minute))
+	return diskcached.NewCachedDiscoveryClientForConfig(config, discoveryCacheDir, httpCacheDir, time.Duration(6*time.Hour))
 }
 
 // ToRESTMapper returns a mapper.
@@ -386,8 +387,8 @@ func (f *ConfigFlags) AddFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 
 // WithDeprecatedPasswordFlag enables the username and password config flags
 func (f *ConfigFlags) WithDeprecatedPasswordFlag() *ConfigFlags {
-	f.Username = stringptr("")
-	f.Password = stringptr("")
+	f.Username = utilpointer.String("")
+	f.Password = utilpointer.String("")
 	return f
 }
 
@@ -416,22 +417,22 @@ func NewConfigFlags(usePersistentConfig bool) *ConfigFlags {
 
 	return &ConfigFlags{
 		Insecure:   &insecure,
-		Timeout:    stringptr("0"),
-		KubeConfig: stringptr(""),
+		Timeout:    utilpointer.String("0"),
+		KubeConfig: utilpointer.String(""),
 
-		CacheDir:         stringptr(defaultCacheDir),
-		ClusterName:      stringptr(""),
-		AuthInfoName:     stringptr(""),
-		Context:          stringptr(""),
-		Namespace:        stringptr(""),
-		APIServer:        stringptr(""),
-		TLSServerName:    stringptr(""),
-		CertFile:         stringptr(""),
-		KeyFile:          stringptr(""),
-		CAFile:           stringptr(""),
-		BearerToken:      stringptr(""),
-		Impersonate:      stringptr(""),
-		ImpersonateUID:   stringptr(""),
+		CacheDir:         utilpointer.String(defaultCacheDir),
+		ClusterName:      utilpointer.String(""),
+		AuthInfoName:     utilpointer.String(""),
+		Context:          utilpointer.String(""),
+		Namespace:        utilpointer.String(""),
+		APIServer:        utilpointer.String(""),
+		TLSServerName:    utilpointer.String(""),
+		CertFile:         utilpointer.String(""),
+		KeyFile:          utilpointer.String(""),
+		CAFile:           utilpointer.String(""),
+		BearerToken:      utilpointer.String(""),
+		Impersonate:      utilpointer.String(""),
+		ImpersonateUID:   utilpointer.String(""),
 		ImpersonateGroup: &impersonateGroup,
 
 		usePersistentConfig: usePersistentConfig,
@@ -442,10 +443,6 @@ func NewConfigFlags(usePersistentConfig bool) *ConfigFlags {
 	}
 }
 
-func stringptr(val string) *string {
-	return &val
-}
-
 // overlyCautiousIllegalFileCharacters matches characters that *might* not be supported.  Windows is really restrictive, so this is really restrictive
 var overlyCautiousIllegalFileCharacters = regexp.MustCompile(`[^(\w/.)]`)