diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/client/client.go b/cmd/clusterctl/client/client.go
index ec32c11adc7a..5747dd5ac68f 100644
--- a/cmd/clusterctl/client/client.go
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/client/client.go
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ type Client interface {
 	// GetProviderComponents returns the provider components for a given provider with options including targetNamespace.
 	GetProviderComponents(provider string, providerType clusterctlv1.ProviderType, options ComponentsOptions) (Components, error)
 
+	// GenerateProvider returns the provider components for a given provider with options including targetNamespace.
+	GenerateProvider(provider string, providerType clusterctlv1.ProviderType, options ComponentsOptions) (Components, error)
+
 	// Init initializes a management cluster by adding the requested list of providers.
 	Init(options InitOptions) ([]Components, error)
 
diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/client/client_test.go b/cmd/clusterctl/client/client_test.go
index fad51bcd1b1f..6407986b7385 100644
--- a/cmd/clusterctl/client/client_test.go
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/client/client_test.go
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ func (f fakeClient) GetProviderComponents(provider string, providerType clusterc
 	return f.internalClient.GetProviderComponents(provider, providerType, options)
 }
 
+func (f fakeClient) GenerateProvider(provider string, providerType clusterctlv1.ProviderType, options ComponentsOptions) (Components, error) {
+	return f.internalClient.GenerateProvider(provider, providerType, options)
+}
+
 func (f fakeClient) GetClusterTemplate(options GetClusterTemplateOptions) (Template, error) {
 	return f.internalClient.GetClusterTemplate(options)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/client/generate_provider.go b/cmd/clusterctl/client/generate_provider.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b9f24f8d8a31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/client/generate_provider.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2022 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package client
+
+import (
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/version"
+
+	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/api/v1beta1"
+	clusterctlv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/cmd/clusterctl/api/v1alpha3"
+)
+
+func (c *clusterctlClient) GenerateProvider(provider string, providerType clusterctlv1.ProviderType, options ComponentsOptions) (Components, error) {
+	providerName, providerVersion, err := parseProviderName(provider)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	configRepository, err := c.configClient.Providers().Get(providerName, providerType)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	providerRepositoryClient, err := c.repositoryClientFactory(RepositoryClientFactoryInput{Provider: configRepository})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if providerVersion == "" {
+		providerVersion = providerRepositoryClient.DefaultVersion()
+	}
+
+	latestMetadata, err := providerRepositoryClient.Metadata(providerVersion).Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	currentVersion, err := version.ParseSemantic(providerVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	releaseSeries := latestMetadata.GetReleaseSeriesForVersion(currentVersion)
+	if releaseSeries == nil {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid provider metadata: version %s for the provider %s does not match any release series", providerVersion, providerName)
+	}
+
+	if releaseSeries.Contract != clusterv1.GroupVersion.Version {
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("current version of clusterctl is only compatible with %s providers, detected %s for provider %s", clusterv1.GroupVersion.Version, releaseSeries.Contract, providerName)
+	}
+
+	return c.GetProviderComponents(provider, providerType, options)
+}
diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/client/repository/client.go b/cmd/clusterctl/client/repository/client.go
index 881a2386f8ca..d3de7ebbcf18 100644
--- a/cmd/clusterctl/client/repository/client.go
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/client/repository/client.go
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ import (
 type Client interface {
 	config.Provider
 
+	// DefaultVersion returns the default provider version returned by a repository.
+	// In case the repository URL points to latest, this method returns the current latest version; in other cases
+	// it returns the version of the provider hosted in the repository.
+	DefaultVersion() string
+
 	// GetVersions return the list of versions that are available in a provider repository
 	GetVersions() ([]string, error)
 
@@ -62,6 +67,10 @@ type repositoryClient struct {
 // ensure repositoryClient implements Client.
 var _ Client = &repositoryClient{}
 
+func (c *repositoryClient) DefaultVersion() string {
+	return c.repository.DefaultVersion()
+}
+
 func (c *repositoryClient) GetVersions() ([]string, error) {
 	return c.repository.GetVersions()
 }
diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/cmd/generate_provider.go b/cmd/clusterctl/cmd/generate_provider.go
index 930301bad227..d2919cc59aba 100644
--- a/cmd/clusterctl/cmd/generate_provider.go
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/cmd/generate_provider.go
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func runGenerateProviderComponents() error {
 		SkipTemplateProcess: gpo.raw || gpo.textOutput,
 	}
 
-	components, err := c.GetProviderComponents(providerName, providerType, options)
+	components, err := c.GenerateProvider(providerName, providerType, options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}