diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
index 203d1730c9..e07b4ddc35 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
 	case distributions.DistributionFlatcar:
 		klog.Infof("Detected Flatcar; won't install containerd")
 		installContainerd = false
-		if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+		if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 			b.buildSystemdServiceOverrideFlatcar(c)
 		}
 	case distributions.DistributionContainerOS:
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
 		b.buildSystemdServiceOverrideContainerOS(c)
 	}
 
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 		// Using containerd with Kubenet requires special configuration.
 		// This is a temporary backwards-compatible solution for kubenet users and will be deprecated when Kubenet is deprecated:
 		// https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/master/docs/cri/config.md#cni-config-template
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) installContainerd(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) e
 	}
 
 	// Add binaries from assets
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 		// Add containerd binaries from containerd release package
 		f := b.Assets.FindMatches(regexp.MustCompile(`^bin/(containerd|ctr)`))
 		if len(f) == 0 {
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) installContainerd(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) e
 	}
 
 	var containerRuntimeVersion string
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 		if b.Cluster.Spec.Containerd != nil {
 			containerRuntimeVersion = fi.ValueOf(b.NodeupConfig.ContainerdConfig.Version)
 		} else {
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) buildSystemdService(sv semver.Version) *nodetasks.Se
 	manifest.Set("Service", "ExecStart", "/usr/bin/containerd -c "+b.containerdConfigFilePath()+" \"$CONTAINERD_OPTS\"")
 
 	// notify the daemon's readiness to systemd
-	if (b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" && sv.GTE(semver.MustParse("1.3.4"))) || sv.GTE(semver.MustParse("19.3.13")) {
+	if (b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" && sv.GTE(semver.MustParse("1.3.4"))) || sv.GTE(semver.MustParse("19.3.13")) {
 		manifest.Set("Service", "Type", "notify")
 	}
 
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) buildCNIConfigTemplateFile(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderC
 }
 
 func (b *ContainerdBuilder) buildContainerdConfig() (string, error) {
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime != "containerd" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime != "containerd" {
 		return "", nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd_test.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd_test.go
index d4753d78cb..aa4d0ddd47 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd_test.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd_test.go
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ func TestContainerdConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		NodeupModelContext: &NodeupModelContext{
 			Cluster: cluster,
 			NodeupConfig: &nodeup.Config{
+				ContainerRuntime: "containerd",
 				ContainerdConfig: &kops.ContainerdConfig{},
 			},
 		},
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/docker.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/docker.go
index 2e5ef0dd3a..a10b9e68e7 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/docker.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/docker.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func (b *DockerBuilder) dockerVersion() (string, error) {
 
 // Build is responsible for configuring the docker daemon
 func (b *DockerBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime != "docker" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime != "docker" {
 		return nil
 	}
 	if b.skipInstall() {
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/hooks.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/hooks.go
index 440b7ce088..3ee3b97a87 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/hooks.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/hooks.go
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ func (h *HookBuilder) buildSystemdService(name string, hook *kops.HookSpec) (*no
 		case nil:
 			unit.SetSection("Service", hook.Manifest)
 		default:
-			switch h.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime {
+			switch h.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime {
 			case "containerd":
 				if err := h.buildContainerdService(unit, hook, name); err != nil {
 					return nil, err
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (h *HookBuilder) buildSystemdService(name string, hook *kops.HookSpec) (*no
 					return nil, err
 				}
 			default:
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown container runtime %q", h.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime)
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown container runtime %q", h.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime)
 			}
 		}
 		definition = s(unit.Render())
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/kubelet.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/kubelet.go
index 390790c6dd..d79b2642d6 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/kubelet.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/kubelet.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func (b *KubeletBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if kubeletConfig.CgroupDriver == "systemd" && b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+	if kubeletConfig.CgroupDriver == "systemd" && b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 
 		{
 			cgroup := kubeletConfig.KubeletCgroups
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ func (b *KubeletBuilder) buildSystemdEnvironmentFile(kubeletConfig *kops.Kubelet
 	}
 
 	// Add container runtime spcific flags
-	switch b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime {
+	switch b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime {
 	case "docker":
 		if b.IsKubernetesLT("1.24") {
 			flags += " --container-runtime=docker"
@@ -354,13 +354,13 @@ func (b *KubeletBuilder) buildSystemdService() *nodetasks.Service {
 	manifest := &systemd.Manifest{}
 	manifest.Set("Unit", "Description", "Kubernetes Kubelet Server")
 	manifest.Set("Unit", "Documentation", "https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes")
-	switch b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime {
+	switch b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime {
 	case "docker":
 		manifest.Set("Unit", "After", "docker.service")
 	case "containerd":
 		manifest.Set("Unit", "After", "containerd.service")
 	default:
-		klog.Warningf("unknown container runtime %q", b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime)
+		klog.Warningf("unknown container runtime %q", b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime)
 	}
 
 	manifest.Set("Service", "EnvironmentFile", "/etc/sysconfig/kubelet")
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ func (b *KubeletBuilder) buildSystemdService() *nodetasks.Service {
 
 	manifest.Set("Install", "WantedBy", "multi-user.target")
 
-	if b.NodeupConfig.KubeletConfig.CgroupDriver == "systemd" && b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
+	if b.NodeupConfig.KubeletConfig.CgroupDriver == "systemd" && b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" {
 		cgroup := b.NodeupConfig.KubeletConfig.KubeletCgroups
 		if cgroup != "" {
 			manifest.Set("Service", "Slice", strings.Trim(cgroup, "/")+".slice")
diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/warm_pool.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/warm_pool.go
index 32fd27bc51..f9f446203e 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/warm_pool.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/warm_pool.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func (b *WarmPoolBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
 		for _, image := range b.NodeupConfig.WarmPoolImages {
 			c.AddTask(&nodetasks.PullImageTask{
 				Name:    image,
-				Runtime: b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime,
+				Runtime: b.NodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime,
 			})
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/nodeup/config.go b/pkg/apis/nodeup/config.go
index 4e608314be..0b6f6c5a23 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/nodeup/config.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/nodeup/config.go
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	FileAssets []kops.FileAssetSpec `json:",omitempty"`
 	// Hooks are for custom actions, for example on first installation.
 	Hooks [][]kops.HookSpec
+	// ContainerRuntime is the container runtime to use for Kubernetes.
+	ContainerRuntime string
 	// ContainerdConfig config holds the configuration for containerd
 	ContainerdConfig *kops.ContainerdConfig `json:"containerdConfig,omitempty"`
 
@@ -168,6 +170,7 @@ func NewConfig(cluster *kops.Cluster, instanceGroup *kops.InstanceGroup) (*Confi
 		VolumeMounts:     instanceGroup.Spec.VolumeMounts,
 		FileAssets:       append(filterFileAssets(instanceGroup.Spec.FileAssets, role), filterFileAssets(cluster.Spec.FileAssets, role)...),
 		Hooks:            [][]kops.HookSpec{igHooks, clusterHooks},
+		ContainerRuntime: cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime,
 	}
 
 	bootConfig := BootConfig{
diff --git a/pkg/model/bootstrapscript.go b/pkg/model/bootstrapscript.go
index a79bd587dd..c54dd6e60a 100644
--- a/pkg/model/bootstrapscript.go
+++ b/pkg/model/bootstrapscript.go
@@ -378,7 +378,6 @@ func (b *BootstrapScript) Run(c *fi.CloudupContext) error {
 
 			spec := make(map[string]interface{})
 			spec["cloudConfig"] = cs.CloudConfig
-			spec["containerRuntime"] = cs.ContainerRuntime
 			spec["containerd"] = cs.Containerd
 			spec["docker"] = cs.Docker
 			spec["kubeProxy"] = cs.KubeProxy
diff --git a/upup/pkg/fi/nodeup/command.go b/upup/pkg/fi/nodeup/command.go
index 5d56d7d963..7dce2e5ebd 100644
--- a/upup/pkg/fi/nodeup/command.go
+++ b/upup/pkg/fi/nodeup/command.go
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ func (c *NodeUpCommand) Run(out io.Writer) error {
 		taskMap["LoadImage."+strconv.Itoa(i)] = &nodetasks.LoadImageTask{
 			Sources: image.Sources,
 			Hash:    image.Hash,
-			Runtime: c.cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime,
+			Runtime: nodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime,
 		}
 	}
 	// Protokube load image task is in ProtokubeBuilder
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ func evaluateSpec(c *NodeUpCommand, nodeupConfig *nodeup.Config, cloudProvider a
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if c.cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "docker" {
+	if nodeupConfig.ContainerRuntime == "docker" {
 		err = evaluateDockerSpecStorage(c.cluster.Spec.Docker)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err