diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
index 8d1e13a9034..e37a91dc815 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/config.go
@@ -438,7 +438,8 @@ func NewCmdConfigImagesPull() *cobra.Command {
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 			containerRuntime, err := utilruntime.NewContainerRuntime(utilsexec.New(), internalcfg.NodeRegistration.CRISocket)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
-			PullControlPlaneImages(containerRuntime, &internalcfg.ClusterConfiguration)
+			err = PullControlPlaneImages(containerRuntime, &internalcfg.ClusterConfiguration)
+			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 		},
 	}
 	AddImagesCommonConfigFlags(cmd.PersistentFlags(), externalClusterCfg, &cfgPath, &featureGatesString)