diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
index 29e02f8fb37..dd0a72bf8fa 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/preflight/checks.go
@@ -813,6 +813,7 @@ func getEtcdVersionResponse(client *http.Client, url string, target interface{})
 type ImagePullCheck struct {
 	runtime         utilruntime.ContainerRuntime
 	imageList       []string
+	sandboxImage    string
 	imagePullPolicy v1.PullPolicy
 }
 
@@ -826,6 +827,15 @@ func (ipc ImagePullCheck) Check() (warnings, errorList []error) {
 	policy := ipc.imagePullPolicy
 	klog.V(1).Infof("using image pull policy: %s", policy)
 	for _, image := range ipc.imageList {
+		if image == ipc.sandboxImage {
+			criSandboxImage, err := ipc.runtime.SandboxImage()
+			if err != nil {
+				klog.V(4).Infof("failed to detect the sandbox image for local container runtime, %v", err)
+			} else if criSandboxImage != ipc.sandboxImage {
+				klog.Warningf("detected that the sandbox image %q of the container runtime is inconsistent with that used by kubeadm. It is recommended that using %q as the CRI sandbox image.",
+					criSandboxImage, ipc.sandboxImage)
+			}
+		}
 		switch policy {
 		case v1.PullNever:
 			klog.V(1).Infof("skipping pull of image: %s", image)
@@ -1036,7 +1046,12 @@ func RunPullImagesCheck(execer utilsexec.Interface, cfg *kubeadmapi.InitConfigur
 	}
 
 	checks := []Checker{
-		ImagePullCheck{runtime: containerRuntime, imageList: images.GetControlPlaneImages(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration), imagePullPolicy: cfg.NodeRegistration.ImagePullPolicy},
+		ImagePullCheck{
+			runtime:         containerRuntime,
+			imageList:       images.GetControlPlaneImages(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration),
+			sandboxImage:    images.GetPauseImage(&cfg.ClusterConfiguration),
+			imagePullPolicy: cfg.NodeRegistration.ImagePullPolicy,
+		},
 	}
 	return RunChecks(checks, os.Stderr, ignorePreflightErrors)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
index 5610b4bed87..96cff450110 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ type ContainerRuntime interface {
 	RemoveContainers(containers []string) error
 	PullImage(image string) error
 	ImageExists(image string) (bool, error)
+	SandboxImage() (string, error)
 }
 
 // CRIRuntime is a struct that interfaces with the CRI
@@ -173,3 +174,19 @@ func detectCRISocketImpl(isSocket func(string) bool, knownCRISockets []string) (
 func DetectCRISocket() (string, error) {
 	return detectCRISocketImpl(isExistingSocket, defaultKnownCRISockets)
 }
+
+// SandboxImage returns the sandbox image used by the container runtime
+func (runtime *CRIRuntime) SandboxImage() (string, error) {
+	args := []string{"-D=false", "info", "-o", "go-template", "--template", "{{.config.sandboxImage}}"}
+	out, err := runtime.crictl(args...).CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "output: %s, error", string(out))
+	}
+
+	sandboxImage := strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+	if len(sandboxImage) > 0 {
+		return sandboxImage, nil
+	}
+
+	return "", errors.Errorf("the detected sandbox image is empty")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
index 46930fcd6dd..fc2fcb48ce3 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/runtime/runtime_test.go
@@ -161,6 +161,56 @@ func TestListKubeContainers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSandboxImage(t *testing.T) {
+	fcmd := fakeexec.FakeCmd{
+		CombinedOutputScript: []fakeexec.FakeAction{
+			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return []byte("registry.k8s.io/pause:3.9"), nil, nil },
+			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return []byte("registry.k8s.io/pause:3.9\n"), nil, nil },
+			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return nil, nil, nil },
+			func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return nil, nil, &fakeexec.FakeExitError{Status: 1} },
+		},
+	}
+
+	execer := &fakeexec.FakeExec{
+		CommandScript: genFakeActions(&fcmd, len(fcmd.CombinedOutputScript)),
+		LookPathFunc:  func(cmd string) (string, error) { return "/usr/bin/crictl", nil },
+	}
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name     string
+		expected string
+		isError  bool
+	}{
+		{"valid: read sandbox image normally", "registry.k8s.io/pause:3.9", false},
+		{"valid: read sandbox image with leading/trailing white spaces", "registry.k8s.io/pause:3.9", false},
+		{"invalid: read empty sandbox image", "", true},
+		{"invalid: failed to read sandbox image", "", true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			runtime, err := NewContainerRuntime(execer, "unix:///some/socket.sock")
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected NewContainerRuntime error: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			sandboxImage, err := runtime.SandboxImage()
+			if tc.isError {
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Errorf("unexpected SandboxImage success")
+				}
+				return
+			} else if err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected SandboxImage error: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if sandboxImage != tc.expected {
+				t.Errorf("expected sandbox image %v, but got %v", tc.expected, sandboxImage)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRemoveContainers(t *testing.T) {
 	fakeOK := func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return nil, nil, nil }
 	fakeErr := func() ([]byte, []byte, error) { return []byte("error"), nil, &fakeexec.FakeExitError{Status: 1} }