diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
index 21b7fa94b228d..023e5215adec7 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/containerd.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kops/nodeup/pkg/model/resources"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/apis/kops"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/flagbuilder"
+	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/model/components"
 	"k8s.io/kops/pkg/systemd"
 	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi"
 	"k8s.io/kops/upup/pkg/fi/nodeup/nodetasks"
@@ -338,7 +339,11 @@ func (b *ContainerdBuilder) Build(c *fi.ModelBuilderContext) error {
 	// Using containerd with Kubenet requires special configuration. This is a temporary backwards-compatible solution
 	// and will be deprecated when Kubenet is deprecated:
 	// https://github.com/containerd/cri/blob/master/docs/config.md#cni-config-template
-	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" && b.Cluster.Spec.Networking != nil && b.Cluster.Spec.Networking.Kubenet != nil {
+	usesKubenet, err := components.UsesKubenet(&b.Cluster.Spec)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if b.Cluster.Spec.ContainerRuntime == "containerd" && usesKubenet {
 		b.buildKubenetCNIConfigTemplate(c)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/model/components/containerd.go b/pkg/model/components/containerd.go
index b31817ba520bb..a2a8f2164e5ba 100644
--- a/pkg/model/components/containerd.go
+++ b/pkg/model/components/containerd.go
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ func (b *ContainerdOptionsBuilder) BuildOptions(o interface{}) error {
 
 		// Apply defaults for containerd running in container runtime mode
 		containerd.LogLevel = fi.String("info")
-		if clusterSpec.Networking != nil && clusterSpec.Networking.Kubenet != nil {
+		usesKubenet, err := UsesKubenet(clusterSpec)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if clusterSpec.Networking != nil && usesKubenet {
 			// Using containerd with Kubenet requires special configuration. This is a temporary backwards-compatible solution
 			// and will be deprecated when Kubenet is deprecated:
 			// https://github.com/containerd/cri/blob/master/docs/config.md#cni-config-template