diff --git a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/cloudproviders.go b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/cloudproviders.go
index f93890d24c4..562e478f2d5 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/cloudproviders.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/cloudproviders.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func createCloudProvider(logger klog.Logger, cloudProvider string, externalCloud
 	var loopMode ControllerLoopMode
 	var err error
 
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DisableCloudProviders) && cloudprovider.IsDeprecatedInternal(cloudProvider) {
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DisableCloudProviders) && !cloudprovider.IsExternal(cloudProvider) {
 		cloudprovider.DisableWarningForProvider(cloudProvider)
 		return nil, ExternalLoops, fmt.Errorf(
 			"cloud provider %q was specified, but built-in cloud providers are disabled. Please set --cloud-provider=external and migrate to an external cloud provider",
diff --git a/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/cloudprovider.go b/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/cloudprovider.go
index 6977e8dd16b..716e0651e6b 100644
--- a/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/cloudprovider.go
+++ b/pkg/kubeapiserver/options/cloudprovider.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func (opts *CloudProviderOptions) Validate() []error {
 			errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("when using --cloud-provider set to '%s', "+
 				"please set DisableKubeletCloudCredentialProviders feature to true", opts.CloudProvider))
 		}
-	case cloudprovider.IsDeprecatedInternal(opts.CloudProvider):
+	case !cloudprovider.IsExternal(opts.CloudProvider):
 		if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DisableCloudProviders) {
 			errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("when using --cloud-provider set to '%s', "+
 				"please set DisableCloudProviders feature to false", opts.CloudProvider))
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index df9a401b5c0..516f9d5014d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *kubeletconfiginternal.KubeletConfiguration,
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid sync frequency %d", kubeCfg.SyncFrequency.Duration)
 	}
 
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DisableCloudProviders) && cloudprovider.IsDeprecatedInternal(cloudProvider) {
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DisableCloudProviders) && !cloudprovider.IsExternal(cloudProvider) {
 		cloudprovider.DisableWarningForProvider(cloudProvider)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cloud provider %q was specified, but built-in cloud providers are disabled. Please set --cloud-provider=external and migrate to an external cloud provider", cloudProvider)
 	}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/plugins.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/plugins.go
index 458fff69a83..718016a2c87 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/plugins.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/plugins.go
@@ -85,18 +85,6 @@ func IsExternal(name string) bool {
 	return name == externalCloudProvider
 }
 
-// IsDeprecatedInternal is responsible for preventing cloud.Interface
-// from being initialized in kubelet, kube-controller-manager or kube-api-server
-func IsDeprecatedInternal(name string) bool {
-	for _, provider := range deprecatedCloudProviders {
-		if provider.name == name {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-
-	return false
-}
-
 // DisableWarningForProvider logs information about disabled cloud provider state
 func DisableWarningForProvider(providerName string) {
 	for _, provider := range deprecatedCloudProviders {