diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
index 3175827ad2..fe8b08c37e 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
@@ -229,17 +229,14 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) init(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 	defer cancel()
 	kr, kw := io.Pipe()
 
-	// NOTE: The command must run with the a root shell to expand PATH to the
-	// root PATH. On Debian 12 user PATH does not contain /usr/sbin which breaks
-	// kubeadm since https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/129450.
 	cmd := fmt.Sprintf(
-		"env PATH=\"%s:$PATH\" kubeadm init --config %s %s --ignore-preflight-errors=%s",
-		bsutil.BinRoot(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion),
+		"%s init --config %s %s --ignore-preflight-errors=%s",
+		bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion),
 		conf,
 		extraFlags,
 		strings.Join(ignore, ","),
 	)
-	c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sudo", "bash", "-c", cmd)
+	c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", cmd)
 
 	c.Stdout = kw
 	c.Stderr = kw
@@ -661,7 +658,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) restartPrimaryControlPlane(cfg config.ClusterConfig) erro
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "cp")
 	}
 
-	baseCmd := fmt.Sprintf("%s init", bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion))
+	baseCmd := fmt.Sprintf("%s init", bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion))
 	cmds := []string{
 		fmt.Sprintf("%s phase certs all --config %s", baseCmd, conf),
 		fmt.Sprintf("%s phase kubeconfig all --config %s", baseCmd, conf),
@@ -672,10 +669,11 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) restartPrimaryControlPlane(cfg config.ClusterConfig) erro
 
 	// Run commands one at a time so that it is easier to root cause failures.
 	for _, c := range cmds {
-		if _, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", c)); err != nil {
+		// c := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sudo", "bash", "-c", cmd)
+		if _, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", c)); err != nil {
 			klog.Errorf("%s failed - will try once more: %v", c, err)
 
-			if _, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", c)); err != nil {
+			if _, err := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", c)); err != nil {
 				return errors.Wrap(err, "run")
 			}
 		}
@@ -784,14 +782,14 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) JoinCluster(cc config.ClusterConfig, n config.Node, joinC
 // GenerateToken creates a token and returns the appropriate kubeadm join command to run, or the already existing token
 func (k *Bootstrapper) GenerateToken(cc config.ClusterConfig) (string, error) {
 	// Take that generated token and use it to get a kubeadm join command
-	tokenCmd := exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s token create --print-join-command --ttl=0", bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)))
+	tokenCmd := exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s token create --print-join-command --ttl=0", bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)))
 	r, err := k.c.RunCmd(tokenCmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", errors.Wrap(err, "generating join command")
 	}
 
 	joinCmd := r.Stdout.String()
-	joinCmd = strings.Replace(joinCmd, "kubeadm", bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion), 1)
+	joinCmd = strings.Replace(joinCmd, "kubeadm", bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion), 1)
 	joinCmd = fmt.Sprintf("%s --ignore-preflight-errors=all", strings.TrimSpace(joinCmd))
 
 	// avoid "Found multiple CRI endpoints on the host. Please define which one do you wish to use by setting the 'criSocket' field in the kubeadm configuration file: unix:///var/run/containerd/containerd.sock, unix:///var/run/cri-dockerd.sock" error
@@ -860,14 +858,14 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) DeleteCluster(k8s config.KubernetesConfig) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "runtime")
 	}
 
-	ka := bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
+	ka := bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
 	sp := cr.SocketPath()
 	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("%s reset --cri-socket %s --force", ka, sp)
 	if ver.LT(semver.MustParse("1.11.0")) {
 		cmd = fmt.Sprintf("%s reset --cri-socket %s", ka, sp)
 	}
 
-	rr, derr := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", cmd))
+	rr, derr := k.c.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", cmd))
 	if derr != nil {
 		klog.Warningf("%s: %v", rr.Command(), err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/node/node.go b/pkg/minikube/node/node.go
index 2fb28674fd..93e6274799 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/node/node.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/node/node.go
@@ -149,8 +149,8 @@ func teardown(cc config.ClusterConfig, name string) (*config.Node, error) {
 				sp = "unix://" + sp
 			}
 
-			cmd := exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("KUBECONFIG=/var/lib/minikube/kubeconfig %s reset --force --ignore-preflight-errors=all --cri-socket=%s",
-				bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion), sp))
+			cmd := exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("KUBECONFIG=/var/lib/minikube/kubeconfig %s reset --force --ignore-preflight-errors=all --cri-socket=%s",
+				bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(cc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion), sp))
 			if _, kerr = r.RunCmd(cmd); kerr == nil {
 				klog.Infof("successfully reset node %q", m)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/node/start.go b/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
index 3325049811..f533a6b058 100755
--- a/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ func joinCluster(starter Starter, cpBs bootstrapper.Bootstrapper, bs bootstrappe
 
 			// reset node to revert any changes made by previous kubeadm init/join
 			klog.Infof("resetting %s node %q before attempting to rejoin cluster...", role, starter.Node.Name)
-			if _, err := starter.Runner.RunCmd(exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s reset --force", bsutil.InvokeKubeadm(starter.Cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)))); err != nil {
+			if _, err := starter.Runner.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("%s reset --force", bsutil.KubeadmCmdWithPath(starter.Cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)))); err != nil {
 				klog.Infof("kubeadm reset failed, continuing anyway: %v", err)
 			} else {
 				klog.Infof("successfully reset %s node %q", role, starter.Node.Name)