diff --git a/cmd/kops/create_secret_dockerconfig.go b/cmd/kops/create_secret_dockerconfig.go
index 1848e6c2ea..015d502bb7 100644
--- a/cmd/kops/create_secret_dockerconfig.go
+++ b/cmd/kops/create_secret_dockerconfig.go
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@ var (
 	createSecretDockerconfigLong = templates.LongDesc(i18n.T(`
 	Create a new docker config, and store it in the state store.
 	Used to configure docker on each master or node (i.e. for auth)
-	Use update to modify it, this command will only create a new entry.`))
+	Use update to modify it, this command will only create a new entry.
+	
+	After creating a dockerconfig secret, a .docker/config.json file will 
+	be added to all newly created nodes without running kops update.
+	This file should also apply auth to containerd, which is the default
+	container runtime in kops 1.20 and above.`))
 
 	createSecretDockerconfigExample = templates.Examples(i18n.T(`
 	# Create a new docker config.
diff --git a/docs/cli/kops_create_secret_dockerconfig.md b/docs/cli/kops_create_secret_dockerconfig.md
index 8de064f133..b1c9681c5d 100644
--- a/docs/cli/kops_create_secret_dockerconfig.md
+++ b/docs/cli/kops_create_secret_dockerconfig.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ Create a docker config.
 
 Create a new docker config, and store it in the state store. Used to configure docker on each master or node (i.e. for auth) Use update to modify it, this command will only create a new entry.
 
+ After creating a dockerconfig secret, a .docker/config.json file will be added to all newly created nodes without running kops update. This file should also apply auth to containerd, which is the default container runtime in kops 1.20 and above.
+
 ```
 kops create secret dockerconfig [flags]
 ```