diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/util.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/util.go
index 6325d5f1b4..db215c0568 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/util.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/util.go
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ func enableOrDisableAddonInternal(addon *assets.Addon, cmd command.Runner, data
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	// If addon manager is enabled, return as it will handle this.
+	// If addon manager is enabled, return as it will handle whatever changes have been made.
 	// If not, reconcile addons ourselves.
 	enabled, err := isAddonManagerEnabled()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile.go b/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile.go
index e526b4a587..6647a6191b 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package addons
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
 )
 
+// taken from https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cluster/addons/addon-manager/kube-addons.sh
 var kubectlPruneWhitelist = []string{
 	"core/v1/ConfigMap",
 	"core/v1/Endpoints",
@@ -48,26 +48,22 @@ var kubectlPruneWhitelist = []string{
 // ReconcileAddons runs kubectl apply -f on the addons directory
 // to reconcile addons state
 func ReconcileAddons(cmd command.Runner) error {
-	reconcileCmd, err := kubectlCommand()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	_, err = cmd.RunCmd(reconcileCmd)
-	if err != nil {
+	if _, err := cmd.RunCmd(kubectlCommand()); err != nil {
 		glog.Warningf("reconciling addons failed: %v", err)
 		return err
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func kubectlCommand() (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+func kubectlCommand() *exec.Cmd {
 	kubectlBinary := fmt.Sprintf("/var/lib/minikube/binaries/%s/%s", constants.KubectlBinaryVersion, constants.KubectlBinary)
+
 	args := []string{"KUBECONFIG=/var/lib/minikube/kubeconfig", kubectlBinary, "apply", "-f", "/etc/kubernetes/addons", "-l", "kubernetes.io/cluster-service!=true,addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode=Reconcile", "--prune=true"}
 	for _, k := range kubectlPruneWhitelist {
 		args = append(args, []string{"--prune-whitelist", k}...)
 	}
 	args = append(args, "--recursive")
+
 	cmd := exec.Command("sudo", args...)
-	cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), "KUBECONFIG=/var/lib/minikube/kubeconfig")
-	return cmd, nil
+	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile_test.go b/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile_test.go
index b8a8d1035d..ffd61b739d 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile_test.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/addons/reconcile_test.go
@@ -17,9 +17,16 @@ limitations under the License.
 package addons
 
 import (
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 func TestKubectlCommand(t *testing.T) {
+	expected := "sudo KUBECONFIG=/var/lib/minikube/kubeconfig /var/lib/minikube/binaries/v1.13.2/kubectl apply -f /etc/kubernetes/addons -l kubernetes.io/cluster-service!=true,addonmanager.kubernetes.io/mode=Reconcile --prune=true --prune-whitelist core/v1/ConfigMap --prune-whitelist core/v1/Endpoints --prune-whitelist core/v1/Namespace --prune-whitelist core/v1/PersistentVolumeClaim --prune-whitelist core/v1/PersistentVolume --prune-whitelist core/v1/Pod --prune-whitelist core/v1/ReplicationController --prune-whitelist core/v1/Secret --prune-whitelist core/v1/Service --prune-whitelist batch/v1/Job --prune-whitelist batch/v1beta1/CronJob --prune-whitelist apps/v1/DaemonSet --prune-whitelist apps/v1/Deployment --prune-whitelist apps/v1/ReplicaSet --prune-whitelist apps/v1/StatefulSet --prune-whitelist extensions/v1beta1/Ingress --recursive"
+	kc := kubectlCommand()
+	actual := strings.Join(kc.Args, " ")
 
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("expected does not match actual\nExpected: %s\nActual: %s", expected, actual)
+	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
index 42e4019610..c5eefc3a27 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ const (
 	// KubectlBinary is the name of the kubectl binary installed in minikube
 	KubectlBinary = "kubectl"
 	// KubectlBinaryVersion is the version of kubectl installed in minikube
+	// it's set to v1.13.2 to match the kubectl version in the addon manager image
 	KubectlBinaryVersion = "v1.13.2"
 )