diff --git a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/config.go b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/config.go
index d702c046e53..949909876ef 100644
--- a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/config.go
+++ b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/config.go
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import (
 	admissionregistration "k8s.io/api/admissionregistration/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 )
 
@@ -32,20 +31,7 @@ const (
 	webhookConfigName = "vpa-webhook-config"
 )
 
-// get a clientset with in-cluster config.
-func getClient() *kubernetes.Clientset {
-	config, err := rest.InClusterConfig()
-	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	clientset, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
-	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	return clientset
-}
-
-func configTLS(clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, serverCert, serverKey []byte) *tls.Config {
+func configTLS(serverCert, serverKey []byte) *tls.Config {
 	sCert, err := tls.X509KeyPair(serverCert, serverKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		klog.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/main.go b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/main.go
index 12a385cd6c0..f3b3c2a1751 100644
--- a/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/main.go
+++ b/vertical-pod-autoscaler/pkg/admission-controller/main.go
@@ -123,15 +123,14 @@ func main() {
 		as.Serve(w, r)
 		healthCheck.UpdateLastActivity()
 	})
-	clientset := getClient()
 	server := &http.Server{
 		Addr:      fmt.Sprintf(":%d", *port),
-		TLSConfig: configTLS(clientset, certs.serverCert, certs.serverKey),
+		TLSConfig: configTLS(certs.serverCert, certs.serverKey),
 	}
 	url := fmt.Sprintf("%v:%v", *webhookAddress, *webhookPort)
 	go func() {
 		if *registerWebhook {
-			selfRegistration(clientset, certs.caCert, namespace, *serviceName, url, *registerByURL, int32(*webhookTimeout))
+			selfRegistration(kubeClient, certs.caCert, namespace, *serviceName, url, *registerByURL, int32(*webhookTimeout))
 		}
 		// Start status updates after the webhook is initialized.
 		statusUpdater.Run(stopCh)