diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index f57616aed2b..36edfe6cb93 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -789,7 +789,6 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *kubeletconfiginternal.KubeletConfiguration,
 
 	klet.backOff = flowcontrol.NewBackOff(backOffPeriod, MaxContainerBackOff)
 	klet.podKillingCh = make(chan *kubecontainer.PodPair, podKillingChannelCapacity)
-	klet.setNodeStatusFuncs = klet.defaultNodeStatusFuncs()
 
 	// setup eviction manager
 	evictionManager, evictionAdmitHandler := eviction.NewManager(klet.resourceAnalyzer, evictionConfig, killPodNow(klet.podWorkers, kubeDeps.Recorder), klet.imageManager, klet.containerGC, kubeDeps.Recorder, nodeRef, klet.clock)
@@ -836,6 +835,11 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *kubeletconfiginternal.KubeletConfiguration,
 	// Finally, put the most recent version of the config on the Kubelet, so
 	// people can see how it was configured.
 	klet.kubeletConfiguration = *kubeCfg
+
+	// Generating the status funcs should be the last thing we do,
+	// since this relies on the rest of the Kubelet having been constructed.
+	klet.setNodeStatusFuncs = klet.defaultNodeStatusFuncs()
+
 	return klet, nil
 }