diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
index 5cd9ae7975..63662dd2f9 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
@@ -71,7 +71,23 @@ func Execute() {
 	_, callingCmd := filepath.Split(os.Args[0])
 
 	if callingCmd == "kubectl" {
-		os.Args = append([]string{RootCmd.Use, callingCmd}, os.Args[1:]...)
+		// If the user is using the minikube binary as kubectl, allow them to specify the kubectl context without also specifying minikube profile
+		profile := ""
+		for i, a := range os.Args {
+			if a == "--context" {
+				profile = fmt.Sprintf("--profile=%s", os.Args[i+1])
+				break
+			} else if strings.HasPrefix(a, "--context=") {
+				context := strings.Split(a, "=")[1]
+				profile = fmt.Sprintf("--profile=%s", context)
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if profile != "" {
+			os.Args = append([]string{RootCmd.Use, callingCmd, profile, "--"}, os.Args[1:]...)
+		} else {
+			os.Args = append([]string{RootCmd.Use, callingCmd, "--"}, os.Args[1:]...)
+		}
 	}
 	for _, c := range RootCmd.Commands() {
 		c.Short = translate.T(c.Short)
diff --git a/test/integration/functional_test.go b/test/integration/functional_test.go
index 0a781bd596..16c2170e8a 100644
--- a/test/integration/functional_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/functional_test.go
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ func validateMinikubeKubectlDirectCall(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profil
 	}
 	defer os.Remove(dstfn) // clean up
 
-	kubectlArgs := []string{"get", "pods"}
+	kubectlArgs := []string{"--context", profile, "get", "pods"}
 	rr, err := Run(t, exec.CommandContext(ctx, dstfn, kubectlArgs...))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to run kubectl directly. args %q: %v", rr.Command(), err)