diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index 30a15e91bc..020cd198a9 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -534,6 +534,12 @@ func updateDriver(driverName string) {
 	if err != nil {
 		out.WarningT("Error parsing minikube version: {{.error}}", out.V{"error": err})
 	} else if err := auxdriver.InstallOrUpdate(driverName, localpath.MakeMiniPath("bin"), v, viper.GetBool(interactive), viper.GetBool(autoUpdate)); err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, auxdriver.ErrAuxDriverVersionCommandFailed) {
+			exit.Error(reason.DrvAuxNotHealthy, "Aux driver "+driverName, err)
+		}
+		if errors.Is(err, auxdriver.ErrAuxDriverVersionNotinPath) {
+			exit.Error(reason.DrvAuxNotHealthy, "Aux driver"+driverName, err)
+		} //if failed to update but not a fatal error, log it and continue (old version might still work)
 		out.WarningT("Unable to update {{.driver}} driver: {{.error}}", out.V{"driver": driverName, "error": err})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/driver/auxdriver/install.go b/pkg/minikube/driver/auxdriver/install.go
index 76e3b78333..9b41b9f1c7 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/driver/auxdriver/install.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/driver/auxdriver/install.go
@@ -38,6 +38,20 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util/lock"
 )
 
+func newAuxUnthealthyError(path string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf(`failed to execute auxiliary version command "%s --version"`, path)
+}
+
+func newAuxNotFoundError(name, path string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("auxiliary driver %s not found in path %s", name, path)
+}
+
+// ErrAuxDriverVersionCommandFailed indicates the aux driver 'version' command failed to run
+var ErrAuxDriverVersionCommandFailed error
+
+// ErrAuxDriverVersionNotinPath was not found in PATH
+var ErrAuxDriverVersionNotinPath error
+
 // InstallOrUpdate downloads driver if it is not present, or updates it if there's a newer version
 func InstallOrUpdate(name string, directory string, v semver.Version, interactive bool, autoUpdate bool) error {
 	if name != driver.KVM2 && name != driver.HyperKit {
@@ -65,7 +79,14 @@ func InstallOrUpdate(name string, directory string, v semver.Version, interactiv
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-	return fixDriverPermissions(name, path, interactive)
+	if err := fixDriverPermissions(name, path, interactive); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if _, err := validateDriver(executable, minAcceptableDriverVersion(name, v)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 // fixDriverPermissions fixes the permissions on a driver
@@ -117,12 +138,17 @@ func validateDriver(executable string, v semver.Version) (string, error) {
 	klog.Infof("Validating %s, PATH=%s", executable, os.Getenv("PATH"))
 	path, err := exec.LookPath(executable)
 	if err != nil {
-		return path, err
+		klog.Warningf("driver not in path : %s, %v", path, err.Error())
+		ErrAuxDriverVersionNotinPath = newAuxNotFoundError(executable, path)
+		return path, ErrAuxDriverVersionNotinPath
 	}
 
-	output, err := exec.Command(path, "version").Output()
+	cmd := exec.Command(path, "version")
+	output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
-		return path, err
+		klog.Warningf("%s failed: %v: %s", cmd, err, output)
+		ErrAuxDriverVersionCommandFailed = newAuxUnthealthyError(path)
+		return path, ErrAuxDriverVersionCommandFailed
 	}
 
 	ev := extractDriverVersion(string(output))
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/reason/reason.go b/pkg/minikube/reason/reason.go
index 96e2c54b57..14bc96d389 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/reason/reason.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/reason/reason.go
@@ -318,6 +318,10 @@ var (
 	DrvNotFound = Kind{ID: "DRV_NOT_FOUND", ExitCode: ExDriverNotFound}
 	// minikube could not find a valid driver
 	DrvNotDetected = Kind{ID: "DRV_NOT_DETECTED", ExitCode: ExDriverNotFound}
+	// aux drivers (kvm or hyperkit) were not found
+	DrvAuxNotNotFound = Kind{ID: "DRV_AUX_NOT_FOUND", ExitCode: ExDriverNotFound}
+	// aux drivers (kvm or hyperkit) were found but not healthy
+	DrvAuxNotHealthy = Kind{ID: "DRV_AUX_NOT_HEALTHY", ExitCode: ExDriverError}
 	// minikube found drivers but none were ready to use
 	DrvNotHealthy = Kind{ID: "DRV_NOT_HEALTHY", ExitCode: ExDriverNotFound}
 	// minikube found the docker driver but the docker service was not running
diff --git a/test/integration/driver_install_or_update_test.go b/test/integration/driver_install_or_update_test.go
index 81d16c2516..fcb902e6c6 100644
--- a/test/integration/driver_install_or_update_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/driver_install_or_update_test.go
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ func TestKVMDriverInstallOrUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 		name string
 		path string
 	}{
-		{name: "driver-without-version-support", path: filepath.Join(*testdataDir, "kvm2-driver-without-version")},
 		{name: "driver-with-older-version", path: filepath.Join(*testdataDir, "kvm2-driver-older-version")},
 	}
 
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ func TestKVMDriverInstallOrUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 	defer os.Setenv("PATH", originalPath)
 
 	for _, tc := range tests {
-		dir := t.TempDir()
+		tempDLDir := t.TempDir()
 
 		pwd, err := os.Getwd()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -70,9 +69,19 @@ func TestKVMDriverInstallOrUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 
 		_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(path, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2"))
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("Expected driver to exist. test: %s, got: %v", tc.name, err)
+			t.Fatalf("Expected test data driver to exist. test: %s, got: %v", tc.name, err)
 		}
 
+		// copy test data driver into the temp download dir so we can point PATH to it for before/after install
+		src := filepath.Join(path, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2")
+		dst := filepath.Join(tempDLDir, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2")
+		if err = CopyFile(src, dst, false); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to copy test data driver to temp dir. test: %s, got: %v", tc.name, err)
+		}
+
+		// point to the copied driver for the rest of the test
+		path = tempDLDir
+
 		// change permission to allow driver to be executable
 		err = os.Chmod(filepath.Join(path, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2"), 0700)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -82,17 +91,17 @@ func TestKVMDriverInstallOrUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 		os.Setenv("PATH", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", path, originalPath))
 
 		// NOTE: This should be a real version, as it impacts the downloaded URL
-		newerVersion, err := semver.Make("1.3.0")
+		newerVersion, err := semver.Make("1.37.0")
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("Expected new semver. test: %v, got: %v", tc.name, err)
 		}
 
-		err = auxdriver.InstallOrUpdate("kvm2", dir, newerVersion, true, true)
+		err = auxdriver.InstallOrUpdate("kvm2", tempDLDir, newerVersion, true, true)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("Failed to update driver to %v. test: %s, got: %v", newerVersion, tc.name, err)
 		}
 
-		_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2"))
+		_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(tempDLDir, "docker-machine-driver-kvm2"))
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("Expected driver to be download. test: %s, got: %v", tc.name, err)
 		}
diff --git a/test/integration/testdata/kvm2-driver-without-version/docker-machine-driver-kvm2 b/test/integration/testdata/kvm2-driver-without-version/docker-machine-driver-kvm2
deleted file mode 100755
index 0ce3916bd7..0000000000
Binary files a/test/integration/testdata/kvm2-driver-without-version/docker-machine-driver-kvm2 and /dev/null differ