diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 39a104a26f..e090af9bad 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ _testmain.go
 *.test
 *.prof
 
+/deploy/iso/minikube-iso/board/coreos/minikube/rootfs-overlay/usr/bin/auto-pause
 /deploy/kicbase/auto-pause
 /deploy/addons/auto-pause/auto-pause-hook
 /out
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c4d12657c5..fba4934dce 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ out/e2e-%: out/minikube-%
 out/e2e-windows-amd64.exe: out/e2e-windows-amd64
 	cp $< $@
 
-minikube_iso: # old target kept for making tests happy
+minikube_iso: deploy/iso/minikube-iso/board/coreos/minikube/rootfs-overlay/usr/bin/auto-pause # build minikube iso
 	echo $(ISO_VERSION) > deploy/iso/minikube-iso/board/coreos/minikube/rootfs-overlay/etc/VERSION
 	if [ ! -d $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot ]; then \
 		mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR); \
@@ -834,6 +834,11 @@ out/mkcmp:
 deploy/kicbase/auto-pause: $(SOURCE_GENERATED) $(SOURCE_FILES)
 	GOOS=linux GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build -o $@ cmd/auto-pause/auto-pause.go
 
+.PHONY: deploy/iso/minikube-iso/board/coreos/minikube/rootfs-overlay/usr/bin/auto-pause # auto pause binary to be used for ISO
+deploy/iso/minikube-iso/board/coreos/minikube/rootfs-overlay/usr/bin/auto-pause: $(SOURCE_GENERATED) $(SOURCE_FILES)
+	GOOS=linux GOARCH=$(GOARCH) go build -o $@ cmd/auto-pause/auto-pause.go
+
+
 .PHONY: deploy/addons/auto-pause/auto-pause-hook
 deploy/addons/auto-pause/auto-pause-hook: $(SOURCE_GENERATED) ## Build auto-pause hook addon
 	$(if $(quiet),@echo "  GO       $@")
diff --git a/pkg/addons/addons_autopause.go b/pkg/addons/addons_autopause.go
index 936f51ff07..054ad00a58 100644
--- a/pkg/addons/addons_autopause.go
+++ b/pkg/addons/addons_autopause.go
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ func enableOrDisableAutoPause(cc *config.ClusterConfig, name string, val string)
 	out.Infof("auto-pause addon is an alpha feature and still in early development. Please file issues to help us make it better.")
 	out.Infof("https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/labels/co%2Fauto-pause")
 
-	if !driver.IsKIC(cc.Driver) || runtime.GOARCH != "amd64" {
-		exit.Message(reason.Usage, `auto-pause currently is only supported on docker driver/docker runtime/amd64. Track progress of others here: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/10601`)
+	if cc.KubernetesConfig.ContainerRuntime != "docker" || runtime.GOARCH != "amd64" {
+		exit.Message(reason.Usage, `auto-pause currently is only supported on docker runtime and amd64. Track progress of others here: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/10601`)
 	}
 	co := mustload.Running(cc.Name)
 	if enable {