diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
index 4b6800e583f..3f833e9b6de 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -229,8 +229,15 @@ func pullImagesInParallelImpl(images []string, ifNotPresent bool,
 func (runtime *CRIRuntime) ImageExists(image string) bool {
 	ctx, cancel := defaultContext()
 	defer cancel()
-	_, err := runtime.impl.ImageStatus(ctx, runtime.imageService, &runtimeapi.ImageSpec{Image: image}, false)
-	return err == nil
+	resp, err := runtime.impl.ImageStatus(ctx, runtime.imageService, &runtimeapi.ImageSpec{Image: image}, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Warningf("Failed to get image status, image: %q, error: %v", image, err)
+		return false
+	}
+	if resp == nil || resp.Image == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
 }
 
 // detectCRISocketImpl is separated out only for test purposes, DON'T call it directly, use DetectCRISocket instead
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
index e7c2652662e..aa9de6e0c63 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
@@ -319,7 +319,12 @@ func TestImageExists(t *testing.T) {
 		prepare  func(*fakeImpl)
 	}{
 		{
-			name:     "valid",
+			name: "valid",
+			prepare: func(mock *fakeImpl) {
+				mock.ImageStatusReturns(&v1.ImageStatusResponse{
+					Image: &v1.Image{},
+				}, nil)
+			},
 			expected: true,
 		},
 		{