diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index ddc12c4b05..3f1034070b 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	cfg "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/api"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/cluster"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig"
 )
 
 // startCmd represents the start command
@@ -68,11 +70,20 @@ func runStart(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	kubeHost = strings.Replace(kubeHost, "tcp://", "https://", -1)
 	kubeHost = strings.Replace(kubeHost, ":2376", ":443", -1)
 	fmt.Printf("Kubernetes is available at %s.\n", kubeHost)
-	fmt.Println("Run this command to use the cluster: ")
-	fmt.Printf("kubectl config set-cluster minikube --server=%s --certificate-authority=$HOME/.minikube/apiserver.crt\n", kubeHost)
-	fmt.Println("kubectl config set-credentials minikube --client-certificate=$HOME/.minikube/apiserver.crt --client-key=$HOME/.minikube/apiserver.key")
-	fmt.Println("kubectl config set-context minikube --cluster=minikube --user=minikube")
-	fmt.Println("kubectl config use-context minikube")
+
+	// setup kubeconfig
+	name := constants.MinikubeContext
+	certAuth := constants.MakeMiniPath("apiserver.crt")
+	clientCert := constants.MakeMiniPath("apiserver.crt")
+	clientKey := constants.MakeMiniPath("apiserver.key")
+	active, err := setupKubeconfig(name, kubeHost, certAuth, clientCert, clientKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Println("Error setting up kubeconfig: ", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	} else if !active {
+		fmt.Println("Run this command to use the cluster: ")
+		fmt.Printf("kubectl config use-context %s\n", name)
+	}
 
 	if err := cluster.GetCreds(host); err != nil {
 		log.Println("Error configuring authentication: ", err)
@@ -80,6 +91,52 @@ func runStart(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}
 }
 
+// setupKubeconfig reads config from disk, adds the minikube settings and writes it back.
+// activeContext is true when minikube is the CurrentContext
+// If no CurrentContext is set, the given name will be used.
+func setupKubeconfig(name, server, certAuth, cliCert, cliKey string) (activeContext bool, err error) {
+	configFile := constants.KubeconfigPath
+
+	// read existing config or create new if does not exist
+	config, err := kubeconfig.ReadConfigOrNew(configFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	clusterName := name
+	cluster := cfg.NewCluster()
+	cluster.Server = server
+	cluster.CertificateAuthority = certAuth
+	config.Clusters[clusterName] = cluster
+
+	// user
+	userName := name
+	user := cfg.NewAuthInfo()
+	user.ClientCertificate = cliCert
+	user.ClientKey = cliKey
+	config.AuthInfos[userName] = user
+
+	// context
+	contextName := name
+	context := cfg.NewContext()
+	context.Cluster = clusterName
+	context.AuthInfo = userName
+	config.Contexts[contextName] = context
+
+	// set current context to minikube if unset
+	if len(config.CurrentContext) == 0 {
+		config.CurrentContext = contextName
+	}
+
+	// write back to disk
+	if err := kubeconfig.WriteConfig(config, configFile); err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	// activeContext if current matches name
+	return name == config.CurrentContext, nil
+}
+
 func init() {
 	startCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&localkubeURL, "localkube-url", "", "https://storage.googleapis.com/tinykube/localkube", "Location of the localkube binary")
 	startCmd.Flags().MarkHidden("localkube-url")
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
index 05bf07a8ef..795878fb96 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ const MachineName = "minikubeVM"
 // Fix for windows
 var Minipath = filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".minikube")
 
+// TODO: Fix for windows
+// KubeconfigPath is the path to the Kubernetes client config
+var KubeconfigPath = filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".kube", "config")
+
+// MinikubeContext is the kubeconfig context name used for minikube
+const MinikubeContext = "minikube"
+
 // MakeMiniPath is a utility to calculate a relative path to our directory.
 func MakeMiniPath(fileName string) string {
 	return filepath.Join(Minipath, fileName)
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config.go b/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config.go
index bea9acbce2..bf92ddd6a0 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config.go
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
-// ReadConfig retrieves Kubernetes client configuration from a file.
-func ReadConfig(filename string) (*api.Config, error) {
+// ReadConfigOrNew retrieves Kubernetes client configuration from a file.
+// If no files exists, an empty configuration is returned.
+func ReadConfigOrNew(filename string) (*api.Config, error) {
 	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filename)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read config: %v", err)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return api.NewConfig(), nil
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// decode config, empty if no bytes
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config_test.go b/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config_test.go
index a49e873f3e..60fa21ef59 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/kubeconfig/config_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func TestEmptyConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	tmp := tempFile(t, []byte{})
 	defer os.Remove(tmp)
 
-	cfg, err := ReadConfig(tmp)
+	cfg, err := ReadConfigOrNew(tmp)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("could not read config: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func TestNewConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	actual, err := ReadConfig(filename)
+	actual, err := ReadConfigOrNew(filename)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}