diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 03374aecc17..ec0dbf84ce6 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -392,8 +392,7 @@ func run(s *options.KubeletServer, kubeDeps *kubelet.KubeletDeps) (err error) {
 			eventClientConfig.QPS = float32(s.EventRecordQPS)
 			eventClientConfig.Burst = int(s.EventBurst)
 			eventClient, err = clientset.NewForConfig(&eventClientConfig)
-		}
-		if err != nil {
+		} else {
 			if s.RequireKubeConfig {
 				return fmt.Errorf("invalid kubeconfig: %v", err)
 			}