diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/apply.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/apply.go
index 6f178ea8bf4..79f33b33e8e 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/apply.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/apply.go
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func NewCmdApply(apf *applyPlanFlags) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&flags.force, "force", "f", flags.force, "Force upgrading although some requirements might not be met. This also implies non-interactive mode.")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flags.dryRun, options.DryRun, flags.dryRun, "Do not change any state, just output what actions would be performed.")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flags.etcdUpgrade, "etcd-upgrade", flags.etcdUpgrade, "Perform the upgrade of etcd.")
-	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flags.renewCerts, "certificate-renewal", flags.renewCerts, "Perform the renewal of certificates used by component changed during upgrades.")
+	cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flags.renewCerts, options.CertificateRenewal, flags.renewCerts, "Perform the renewal of certificates used by component changed during upgrades.")
 	cmd.Flags().DurationVar(&flags.imagePullTimeout, "image-pull-timeout", flags.imagePullTimeout, "The maximum amount of time to wait for the control plane pods to be downloaded.")
 	options.AddKustomizePodsFlag(cmd.Flags(), &flags.kustomizeDir)
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
index 57419938ba8..fe13d0a8d28 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/upgrade/node.go
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ func newNodeOptions() *nodeOptions {
 	return &nodeOptions{
 		kubeConfigPath: constants.GetKubeletKubeConfigPath(),
 		dryRun:         false,
+		renewCerts:     true,
 	}
 }