diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index e8000701b0..f0b6382a9d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ require (
 	k8s.io/api v0.17.3
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.17.3
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.17.3
+	k8s.io/klog v1.0.0
 	k8s.io/kubectl v0.0.0
 	k8s.io/kubernetes v1.17.3
 	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20200229041039-0a110f9eb7ab // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
index 0b7704e752..5408744837 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
@@ -133,11 +133,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) createCompatSymlinks() error {
 
 // clearStaleConfigs clears configurations which may have stale IP addresses
 func (k *Bootstrapper) clearStaleConfigs(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
-	cp, err := config.PrimaryControlPlane(&cfg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
+	// These are the files that kubeadm will reject stale versions of
 	paths := []string{
 		"/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf",
 		"/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf",
@@ -145,6 +141,19 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) clearStaleConfigs(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 		"/etc/kubernetes/scheduler.conf",
 	}
 
+	args := append([]string{"ls", "-la"}, paths...)
+	rr, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", args...))
+	if err != nil {
+		glog.Infof("config check failed, skipping stale config cleanup: %v", err)
+		return nil
+	}
+	glog.Infof("found existing configuration files:\n%s\n", rr.Stdout.String())
+
+	cp, err := config.PrimaryControlPlane(&cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	endpoint := fmt.Sprintf("https://%s", net.JoinHostPort(constants.ControlPlaneAlias, strconv.Itoa(cp.Port)))
 	for _, path := range paths {
 		_, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "grep", endpoint, path))
@@ -469,7 +478,8 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) needsReconfigure(conf string, hostname string, port int,
 		return true
 	}
 
-	glog.Infof("The running cluster does not need reconfiguration. hostname: %s", hostname)
+	// DANGER: This log message is hard-coded in an integration test!
+	glog.Infof("The running cluster does not require reconfiguration: %s", hostname)
 	return false
 }
 
@@ -829,7 +839,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) applyKICOverlay(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	ko := path.Join(vmpath.GuestEphemeralDir, fmt.Sprintf("kic_overlay.yaml"))
+	ko := path.Join(vmpath.GuestEphemeralDir, "kic_overlay.yaml")
 	f := assets.NewMemoryAssetTarget(b.Bytes(), ko, "0644")
 
 	if err := k.c.Copy(f); err != nil {
@@ -899,7 +909,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) elevateKubeSystemPrivileges(cfg config.ClusterConfig) err
 	rr, err := k.c.RunCmd(cmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Error from server (AlreadyExists): clusterrolebindings.rbac.authorization.k8s.io "minikube-rbac" already exists
-		if strings.Contains(rr.Output(), fmt.Sprintf("Error from server (AlreadyExists)")) {
+		if strings.Contains(rr.Output(), "Error from server (AlreadyExists)") {
 			glog.Infof("rbac %q already exists not need to re-create.", rbacName)
 			return nil
 		}
diff --git a/test/integration/pause_test.go b/test/integration/pause_test.go
index e0d98a0f6f..5e22318a68 100644
--- a/test/integration/pause_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/pause_test.go
@@ -65,22 +65,22 @@ func validateFreshStart(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {
 	}
 }
 
-// validateStartNoReset validates that starting a running cluster won't invoke a reset
-func validateStartNoReset(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {
+// validateStartNoReconfigure validates that starting a running cluster does not invoke reconfiguration
+func validateStartNoReconfigure(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {
 	args := []string{"start", "-p", profile, "--alsologtostderr", "-v=5"}
 	rr, err := Run(t, exec.CommandContext(ctx, Target(), args...))
 	if err != nil {
 		defer clusterLogs(t, profile)
 		t.Fatalf("failed to second start a running minikube with args: %q : %v", rr.Command(), err)
 	}
+
 	if !NoneDriver() {
-		softLog := "The running cluster does not need a reset"
+		softLog := "The running cluster does not require reconfiguration"
 		if !strings.Contains(rr.Output(), softLog) {
 			defer clusterLogs(t, profile)
-			t.Errorf("expected the second start log outputs to include %q but got: %s", softLog, rr.Output())
+			t.Errorf("expected the second start log output to include %q but got: %s", softLog, rr.Output())
 		}
 	}
-
 }
 
 func validatePause(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {