diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 27490aa2cfb..8639ec60852 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -611,10 +611,6 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *kubeletconfiginternal.KubeletConfiguration,
 
 	klet.resourceAnalyzer = serverstats.NewResourceAnalyzer(klet, kubeCfg.VolumeStatsAggPeriod.Duration)
 
-	if containerRuntime == "rkt" {
-		klog.Fatalln("rktnetes has been deprecated in favor of rktlet. Please see https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/rktlet for more information.")
-	}
-
 	// if left at nil, that means it is unneeded
 	var legacyLogProvider kuberuntime.LegacyLogProvider