diff --git a/hack/preload-images/generate.go b/hack/preload-images/generate.go
index 14c3e182a94f..080be1e2d23c 100644
--- a/hack/preload-images/generate.go
+++ b/hack/preload-images/generate.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/command"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/config"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/cruntime"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/detect"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/localpath"
@@ -127,6 +128,11 @@ func generateTarball(kubernetesVersion, containerRuntime, tarballFilename string
 	if err := bsutil.TransferBinaries(kcfg, runner, sm, ""); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "transferring k8s binaries")
 	}
+	// download crictl if needed
+
+	if err := bsutil.TransferCrictl(kcfg, runner); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "transferring crictl")
+	}
 	// Create image tarball
 	if err := createImageTarball(tarballFilename, containerRuntime); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "create tarball")
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/binaries.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/binaries.go
index 2800f489dfdd..7fff5dced462 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/binaries.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/binaries.go
@@ -37,6 +37,21 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/vmpath"
 )
 
+// TransferCrictl transfers the crictl binary to the machine
+func TransferCrictl(cfg config.KubernetesConfig, c command.Runner) error {
+
+	src, err := download.DownloadCrictlBinary(cfg.KubernetesVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "downloading crictl")
+	}
+	dir := binRoot(cfg.KubernetesVersion)
+	dst := path.Join(dir, "crictl")
+	if err := machine.CopyBinary(c, src, dst); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "copybinary %s -> %s", src, dst)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // TransferBinaries transfers all required Kubernetes binaries
 func TransferBinaries(cfg config.KubernetesConfig, c command.Runner, sm sysinit.Manager, binariesURL string) error {
 	ok, err := binariesExist(cfg, c)
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
index c72ff85e3304..cc61fc55fb09 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine"
 	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine/state"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	core "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	meta "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -939,6 +940,19 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) UpdateNode(cfg config.ClusterConfig, n config.Node, r cru
 
 	klog.Infof("kubelet %s config:\n%+v", kubeletCfg, cfg.KubernetesConfig)
 
+	sm := sysinit.New(k.c)
+
+	if err := bsutil.TransferBinaries(cfg.KubernetesConfig, k.c, sm, cfg.BinaryMirror); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "downloading binaries")
+	}
+	// download crictl if needed.
+	// since kubernetes v1.29 we need to have matching crictl and kubernetes version.
+	if !viper.GetBool("preload") && cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion != constants.DefaultKubernetesVersion {
+		if err := bsutil.TransferCrictl(cfg.KubernetesConfig, k.c); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "transferring crictl")
+		}
+	}
+
 	files := []assets.CopyableFile{
 		assets.NewMemoryAssetTarget(kubeletCfg, bsutil.KubeletSystemdConfFile, "0644"),
 		assets.NewMemoryAssetTarget(kubeletService, bsutil.KubeletServiceFile, "0644"),
@@ -973,8 +987,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) UpdateNode(cfg config.ClusterConfig, n config.Node, r cru
 		}
 	}
 
-	sm := sysinit.New(k.c)
-
+	sm = sysinit.New(k.c)
 	if err := bsutil.TransferBinaries(cfg.KubernetesConfig, k.c, sm, cfg.BinaryMirror); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "downloading binaries")
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/download/binary.go b/pkg/minikube/download/binary.go
index 21b3edd5dabb..67d413a0e4d7 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/download/binary.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/download/binary.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/detect"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 
 	"github.com/blang/semver/v4"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -88,3 +89,22 @@ func Binary(binary, version, osName, archName, binaryURL string) (string, error)
 	}
 	return targetFilepath, nil
 }
+
+// DownloadCrictlBinary download the crictl tar archive to the cache folder and untar it
+func DownloadCrictlBinary(k8sversion string) (string, error) {
+	v, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(k8sversion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	crictlVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d.0", v.Major, v.Minor)
+	url := fmt.Sprintf(
+		"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/download/%s/crictl-%s-linux-%s.tar.gz",
+		crictlVersion, crictlVersion, runtime.GOARCH)
+	targetDir := localpath.MakeMiniPath("cache", "linux", runtime.GOARCH, k8sversion)
+	targetPath := path.Join(targetDir, "crictl")
+	if err := download(url, targetPath); err != nil {
+		return "", errors.Wrapf(err, "download failed: %s", url)
+	}
+
+	return targetPath, nil
+}