diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index d1e4fbec98..b66488d94f 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -969,6 +969,13 @@ func autoSetDriverOptions(cmd *cobra.Command, drvName string) error {
 	if !cmd.Flags().Changed(cacheImages) {
 		viper.Set(cacheImages, hints.CacheImages)
 	}
+
+	// currently only used for kic
+	if !cmd.Flags().Changed(containerRuntime) && hints.ContainerRuntime != "" {
+		viper.Set(containerRuntime, hints.ContainerRuntime)
+		glog.Infof("auto set container runtime to %s for kic driver.", hints.ContainerRuntime)
+
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/driver/driver.go b/pkg/minikube/driver/driver.go
index 322f465770..a8e94d3da6 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/driver/driver.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/driver/driver.go
@@ -75,14 +75,20 @@ func BareMetal(name string) bool {
 
 // FlagHints are hints for what default options should be used for this driver
 type FlagHints struct {
-	ExtraOptions string
-	CacheImages  bool
+	ExtraOptions     string
+	CacheImages      bool
+	ContainerRuntime string
 }
 
 // FlagDefaults returns suggested defaults based on a driver
 func FlagDefaults(name string) FlagHints {
 	if name != None {
-		return FlagHints{CacheImages: true}
+		fh := FlagHints{CacheImages: true}
+		// only for kic, till other run-times are available we auto-set containerd.
+		if name == KicDocker {
+			fh.ContainerRuntime = "containerd"
+		}
+		return fh
 	}
 
 	extraOpts := ""