diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/node_add.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/node_add.go
index b90a41ddcf58..5ba3ed0ba736 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/node_add.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/node_add.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/out/register"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/reason"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/style"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -67,6 +68,10 @@ var nodeAddCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 
 		if n.ControlPlane {
+			err := util.CheckMultiControlPlaneVersion(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
+			if err != nil {
+				exit.Error(reason.KubernetesTooOld, "target kubernetes version too old", err)
+			}
 			n.Port = cc.KubernetesConfig.NodePort
 		}
 
diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index 8bb3d0ae9811..891a293703fe 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -137,6 +137,13 @@ func runStart(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		out.WarningT(fmt.Sprintf("control planes number %v larger than nodes number %v, enlarge nodes to %v.", controlPlanesNum, nodesNum, controlPlanesNum))
 		viper.Set(nodes, controlPlanesNum)
 	}
+	k8sVersion := viper.GetString(kubernetesVersion)
+	if controlPlanesNum > 1 {
+		err := util.CheckMultiControlPlaneVersion(k8sVersion)
+		if err != nil {
+			exit.Error(reason.KubernetesTooOld, "target kubernetes version too old", err)
+		}
+	}
 
 	out.SetJSON(outputFormat == "json")
 	if err := pkgtrace.Initialize(viper.GetString(trace)); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
index 76756ef1701e..4876444acb5e 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) init(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), initTimeoutMinutes*time.Minute)
 	defer cancel()
 	kr, kw := io.Pipe()
-	c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s init --config %s %s --ignore-preflight-errors=%s --upload-certs",
+	c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s init --config %s %s --ignore-preflight-errors=%s",
 		bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion), conf, extraFlags, strings.Join(ignore, ",")))
 	c.Stdout = kw
 	c.Stderr = kw
diff --git a/pkg/util/utils.go b/pkg/util/utils.go
index f5fe5a3b226a..d49631e44146 100644
--- a/pkg/util/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/util/utils.go
@@ -109,3 +109,14 @@ func MaybeChownDirRecursiveToMinikubeUser(dir string) error {
 func ParseKubernetesVersion(version string) (semver.Version, error) {
 	return semver.Make(version[1:])
 }
+
+func CheckMultiControlPlaneVersion(version string) error {
+	ver, err := ParseKubernetesVersion(version)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if ver.Minor < 16 {
+		return errors.Errorf("Multi control plane requires Kubernetes 1.16+, current version %s is not supported.", version)
+	}
+	return nil
+}