diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
index 4defa95bd80..a38c999fb1b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/reset.go
@@ -39,12 +39,6 @@ import (
 	utilsexec "k8s.io/utils/exec"
 )
 
-var (
-	crictlSandboxesParamsFormat = "%s -r %s sandboxes --quiet | xargs -r"
-	crictlStopParamsFormat      = "%s -r %s stops %s"
-	crictlRemoveParamsFormat    = "%s -r %s rms %s"
-)
-
 // NewCmdReset returns the "kubeadm reset" command
 func NewCmdReset(in io.Reader, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 	var skipPreFlight bool
@@ -213,28 +207,31 @@ func resetWithCrictl(execer utilsexec.Interface, dockerCheck preflight.Checker,
 		glog.Infof("[reset] cleaning up running containers using crictl with socket %s\n", criSocketPath)
 		glog.V(1).Infoln("[reset] listing running pods using crictl")
 
-		listcmd := fmt.Sprintf(crictlSandboxesParamsFormat, crictlPath, criSocketPath)
-		glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing comand %q", listcmd)
-		output, err := execer.Command(listcmd).CombinedOutput()
+		params := []string{"-r", criSocketPath, "pods", "--quiet"}
+		glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing command %s %s", crictlPath, strings.Join(params, " "))
+		output, err := execer.Command(crictlPath, params...).CombinedOutput()
 		if err != nil {
-			glog.Infoln("[reset] failed to list running pods using crictl. Trying using docker instead")
+			glog.Infof("[reset] failed to list running pods using crictl: %s. Trying using docker instead", err)
 			resetWithDocker(execer, dockerCheck)
 			return
 		}
 		sandboxes := strings.Split(string(output), " ")
 		glog.V(1).Infoln("[reset] stopping and removing running containers using crictl")
 		for _, s := range sandboxes {
-			stopcmd := fmt.Sprintf(crictlStopParamsFormat, crictlPath, criSocketPath, s)
-			glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing command %q", stopcmd)
-			if err := execer.Command(stopcmd).Run(); err != nil {
-				glog.Infoln("[reset] failed to stop the running containers using crictl. Trying using docker instead")
+			if strings.TrimSpace(s) == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			params = []string{"-r", criSocketPath, "stop", s}
+			glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing command %s %s", crictlPath, strings.Join(params, " "))
+			if err := execer.Command(crictlPath, params...).Run(); err != nil {
+				glog.Infof("[reset] failed to stop the running containers using crictl: %s. Trying using docker instead", err)
 				resetWithDocker(execer, dockerCheck)
 				return
 			}
-			removecmd := fmt.Sprintf(crictlRemoveParamsFormat, crictlPath, criSocketPath, s)
-			glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing command %q", removecmd)
-			if err := execer.Command(removecmd).Run(); err != nil {
-				glog.Infoln("[reset] failed to remove the running containers using crictl. Trying using docker instead")
+			params = []string{"-r", criSocketPath, "rm", s}
+			glog.V(1).Infof("[reset] executing command %s %s", crictlPath, strings.Join(params, " "))
+			if err := execer.Command(crictlPath, params...).Run(); err != nil {
+				glog.Infof("[reset] failed to remove the running containers using crictl: %s. Trying using docker instead", err)
 				resetWithDocker(execer, dockerCheck)
 				return
 			}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
index 4336a019d0c..34cf9bdccf8 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func (criCheck CRICheck) Check() (warnings, errors []error) {
 		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("unable to find command crictl: %s", err))
 		return warnings, errors
 	}
-	if err := criCheck.exec.Command(fmt.Sprintf("%s -r %s info", crictlPath, criCheck.socket)).Run(); err != nil {
+	if err := criCheck.exec.Command(crictlPath, "-r", criCheck.socket, "info").Run(); err != nil {
 		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("unable to check if the container runtime at %q is running: %s", criCheck.socket, err))
 		return warnings, errors
 	}