diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index d229e7413f4..8c6bfd4a0fa 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *componentconfig.KubeletConfiguration, kubeDeps *Kub
 	}
 	containerRefManager := kubecontainer.NewRefManager()
 
-	secretManager, err := secret.NewSimpleSecretManager(kubeClient)
+	secretManager, err := secret.NewCachingSecretManager(kubeClient)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize secret manager: %v", err)
 	}