diff --git a/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go b/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
index 36c2fe2ad4..ad97ddcf8d 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
@@ -269,11 +269,8 @@ func transferAndLoadImage(cr command.Runner, k8s config.KubernetesConfig, src st
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "runtime")
 	}
 
-	if err := r.RemoveImage(imgName); err != nil {
-		errStr := strings.ToLower(err.Error())
-		if !strings.Contains(errStr, "no such image") {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "removing image")
-		}
+	if err := removeExistingImage(r, src, imgName); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	klog.Infof("Loading image from: %s", src)
@@ -309,6 +306,26 @@ func transferAndLoadImage(cr command.Runner, k8s config.KubernetesConfig, src st
 	return nil
 }
 
+func removeExistingImage(r cruntime.Manager, src string, imgName string) error {
+	// if loading an image from tar, skip deleting as we don't have the actual image name
+	// ie. imgName = "C:\this_is_a_dir\image.tar.gz"
+	if src == imgName {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	err := r.RemoveImage(imgName)
+	if err == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	errStr := strings.ToLower(err.Error())
+	if !strings.Contains(errStr, "no such image") {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "removing image")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // pullImages pulls images to the container run time
 func pullImages(cruntime cruntime.Manager, images []string) error {
 	klog.Infof("PullImages start: %s", images)