diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index 758deb59a2e3..eea67e9b6bb8 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ func validateDriver(ds registry.DriverState, existing *config.ClusterConfig) {
 	exit.WithCodeT(exit.Config, "Exiting.")
 }
 
-func selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry string) (bool, string, error) {
+func selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry string, v semver.Version) (bool, string, error) {
 	var tryCountries []string
 	var fallback string
 	glog.Infof("selecting image repository for country %s ...", mirrorCountry)
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ func selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry string) (bool, string, error) {
 	}
 
 	checkRepository := func(repo string) error {
-		pauseImage := images.Pause(repo)
+		pauseImage := images.Pause(v, repo)
 		ref, err := name.ParseReference(pauseImage, name.WeakValidation)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ func generateCfgFromFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, k8sVersion string, drvName string)
 	repository := viper.GetString(imageRepository)
 	mirrorCountry := strings.ToLower(viper.GetString(imageMirrorCountry))
 	if strings.ToLower(repository) == "auto" || mirrorCountry != "" {
-		found, autoSelectedRepository, err := selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry)
+		found, autoSelectedRepository, err := selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry, semver.MustParse(k8sVersion))
 		if err != nil {
 			exit.WithError("Failed to check main repository and mirrors for images for images", err)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubeadm.go
index 0f37e5ae11de..3aa1bb52d481 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubeadm.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/cruntime"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/vmpath"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 )
 
 // Container runtimes
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ const remoteContainerRuntime = "remote"
 // GenerateKubeadmYAML generates the kubeadm.yaml file
 func GenerateKubeadmYAML(mc config.ClusterConfig, r cruntime.Manager, n config.Node) ([]byte, error) {
 	k8s := mc.KubernetesConfig
-	version, err := ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
+	version, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "parsing kubernetes version")
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet.go
index d3b7cd6f8034..8ec9d01fc671 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet.go
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/config"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/cruntime"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 )
 
 func extraKubeletOpts(mc config.ClusterConfig, nc config.Node, r cruntime.Manager) (map[string]string, error) {
 	k8s := mc.KubernetesConfig
-	version, err := ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
+	version, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "parsing kubernetes version")
 	}
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ func extraKubeletOpts(mc config.ClusterConfig, nc config.Node, r cruntime.Manage
 		extraOpts["hostname-override"] = nc.Name
 	}
 
-	pauseImage := images.Pause(k8s.ImageRepository)
+	pauseImage := images.Pause(version, k8s.ImageRepository)
 	if _, ok := extraOpts["pod-infra-container-image"]; !ok && k8s.ImageRepository != "" && pauseImage != "" && k8s.ContainerRuntime != remoteContainerRuntime {
 		extraOpts["pod-infra-container-image"] = pauseImage
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet_test.go
index a6344c264798..3019ee1f5255 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kubelet_test.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ Wants=crio.service
 
 [Service]
 ExecStart=
-ExecStart=/var/lib/minikube/binaries/v1.17.3/kubelet --authorization-mode=Webhook --bootstrap-kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/bootstrap-kubelet.conf --cgroup-driver=cgroupfs --client-ca-file=/var/lib/minikube/certs/ca.crt --cluster-domain=cluster.local --config=/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml --container-runtime=remote --container-runtime-endpoint=/var/run/crio/crio.sock --fail-swap-on=false --hostname-override=minikube --image-service-endpoint=/var/run/crio/crio.sock --kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf --node-ip=192.168.1.100 --pod-manifest-path=/etc/kubernetes/manifests --runtime-request-timeout=15m
+ExecStart=/var/lib/minikube/binaries/v1.18.0-beta.2/kubelet --authorization-mode=Webhook --bootstrap-kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/bootstrap-kubelet.conf --cgroup-driver=cgroupfs --client-ca-file=/var/lib/minikube/certs/ca.crt --cluster-domain=cluster.local --config=/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml --container-runtime=remote --container-runtime-endpoint=/var/run/crio/crio.sock --fail-swap-on=false --hostname-override=minikube --image-service-endpoint=/var/run/crio/crio.sock --kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf --node-ip=192.168.1.100 --pod-manifest-path=/etc/kubernetes/manifests --runtime-request-timeout=15m
 
 [Install]
 `,
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions.go
index 0d11ccf2e74a..4c06b134015a 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions.go
@@ -21,23 +21,11 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/blang/semver"
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/config"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/vmpath"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 )
 
-// ParseKubernetesVersion parses the kubernetes version
-func ParseKubernetesVersion(version string) (semver.Version, error) {
-	// Strip leading 'v' prefix from version for semver parsing
-	v, err := semver.Make(version[1:])
-	if err != nil {
-		return semver.Version{}, errors.Wrap(err, "invalid version, must begin with 'v'")
-	}
-
-	return v, nil
-}
-
 // versionIsBetween checks if a version is between (or including) two given versions
 func versionIsBetween(version, gte, lte semver.Version) bool {
 	if gte.NE(semver.Version{}) && !version.GTE(gte) {
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions_test.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions_test.go
index e08e9b92d6b5..a22efeeb35d1 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions_test.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/versions_test.go
@@ -91,13 +91,3 @@ func TestVersionIsBetween(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
-
-func TestParseKubernetesVersion(t *testing.T) {
-	version, err := ParseKubernetesVersion("v1.8.0-alpha.5")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Error parsing version: %v", err)
-	}
-	if version.NE(semver.MustParse("1.8.0-alpha.5")) {
-		t.Errorf("Expected: %s, Actual:%s", "1.8.0-alpha.5", version)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
index 30035be30650..1029e940073b 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
@@ -25,11 +25,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/blang/semver"
 )
 
-// Pause returns the image name to pull for the pause image
-func Pause(mirror string) string {
+// Pause returns the image name to pull for a given Kubernetes version
+func Pause(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// Should match `PauseVersion` in:
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
-	return path.Join(kubernetesRepo(mirror), "pause"+archTag(false)+"3.1")
+	pv := "3.2"
+	if semver.MustParseRange("<1.18.0-alpha.0")(v) {
+		pv = "3.1"
+	}
+	return path.Join(kubernetesRepo(mirror), "pause"+archTag(false)+pv)
 }
 
 // essentials returns images needed too bootstrap a kubenretes
@@ -41,7 +45,7 @@ func essentials(mirror string, v semver.Version) []string {
 		componentImage("kube-apiserver", v, mirror),
 		coreDNS(v, mirror),
 		etcd(v, mirror),
-		Pause(mirror),
+		Pause(v, mirror),
 	}
 	return imgs
 }
@@ -61,8 +65,10 @@ func componentImage(name string, v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 func coreDNS(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// Should match `CoreDNSVersion` in
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
-	cv := "1.6.5"
+	cv := "1.6.7"
 	switch v.Minor {
+	case 17:
+		cv = "1.6.5"
 	case 16:
 		cv = "1.6.2"
 	case 15, 14:
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
index e9817044563c..e827f69be4aa 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/kubeadm/kubeadm.go
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/machine"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/out"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/vmpath"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/version"
 )
 
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) StartCluster(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 		glog.Infof("StartCluster complete in %s", time.Since(start))
 	}()
 
-	version, err := bsutil.ParseKubernetesVersion(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
+	version, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "parsing kubernetes version")
 	}
@@ -293,7 +294,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) restartCluster(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 		glog.Infof("restartCluster took %s", time.Since(start))
 	}()
 
-	version, err := bsutil.ParseKubernetesVersion(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
+	version, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(cfg.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "parsing kubernetes version")
 	}
@@ -363,7 +364,7 @@ func (k *Bootstrapper) restartCluster(cfg config.ClusterConfig) error {
 
 // DeleteCluster removes the components that were started earlier
 func (k *Bootstrapper) DeleteCluster(k8s config.KubernetesConfig) error {
-	version, err := bsutil.ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
+	version, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(k8s.KubernetesVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "parsing kubernetes version")
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
index 0f6af77d31a1..5caeeb7505ab 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/constants/constants.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const (
 	// DefaultKubernetesVersion is the default kubernetes version
 	DefaultKubernetesVersion = "v1.17.3"
 	// NewestKubernetesVersion is the newest Kubernetes version to test against
-	NewestKubernetesVersion = "v1.17.3"
+	NewestKubernetesVersion = "v1.18.0-beta.2"
 	// OldestKubernetesVersion is the oldest Kubernetes version to test against
 	OldestKubernetesVersion = "v1.11.10"
 	// DefaultClusterName is the default nane for the k8s cluster
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/containerd.go b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/containerd.go
index 37d651bc3ca9..b5828b977729 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/containerd.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/containerd.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"text/template"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images"
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ type Containerd struct {
 	Socket            string
 	Runner            CommandRunner
 	ImageRepository   string
-	KubernetesVersion string
+	KubernetesVersion semver.Version
 }
 
 // Name is a human readable name for containerd
@@ -170,13 +171,13 @@ func (r *Containerd) Available() error {
 }
 
 // generateContainerdConfig sets up /etc/containerd/config.toml
-func generateContainerdConfig(cr CommandRunner, imageRepository string) error {
+func generateContainerdConfig(cr CommandRunner, imageRepository string, kv semver.Version) error {
 	cPath := containerdConfigFile
 	t, err := template.New("containerd.config.toml").Parse(containerdConfigTemplate)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	pauseImage := images.Pause(imageRepository)
+	pauseImage := images.Pause(kv, imageRepository)
 	opts := struct{ PodInfraContainerImage string }{PodInfraContainerImage: pauseImage}
 	var b bytes.Buffer
 	if err := t.Execute(&b, opts); err != nil {
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ func (r *Containerd) Enable(disOthers bool) error {
 	if err := populateCRIConfig(r.Runner, r.SocketPath()); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := generateContainerdConfig(r.Runner, r.ImageRepository); err != nil {
+	if err := generateContainerdConfig(r.Runner, r.ImageRepository, r.KubernetesVersion); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if err := enableIPForwarding(r.Runner); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/crio.go b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/crio.go
index 8b4be028cfb6..6b52c4f23100 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/crio.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/crio.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images"
@@ -37,13 +38,13 @@ type CRIO struct {
 	Socket            string
 	Runner            CommandRunner
 	ImageRepository   string
-	KubernetesVersion string
+	KubernetesVersion semver.Version
 }
 
 // generateCRIOConfig sets up /etc/crio/crio.conf
-func generateCRIOConfig(cr CommandRunner, imageRepository string) error {
+func generateCRIOConfig(cr CommandRunner, imageRepository string, kv semver.Version) error {
 	cPath := crioConfigFile
-	pauseImage := images.Pause(imageRepository)
+	pauseImage := images.Pause(kv, imageRepository)
 
 	c := exec.Command("/bin/bash", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("sudo sed -e 's|^pause_image = .*$|pause_image = \"%s\"|' -i %s", pauseImage, cPath))
 	if _, err := cr.RunCmd(c); err != nil {
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ func (r *CRIO) Enable(disOthers bool) error {
 	if err := populateCRIConfig(r.Runner, r.SocketPath()); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := generateCRIOConfig(r.Runner, r.ImageRepository); err != nil {
+	if err := generateCRIOConfig(r.Runner, r.ImageRepository, r.KubernetesVersion); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if err := enableIPForwarding(r.Runner); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/cruntime.go b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/cruntime.go
index 468b84442970..cd6683cdd69b 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/cruntime/cruntime.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/cruntime/cruntime.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os/exec"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/assets"
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	// ImageRepository image repository to download image from
 	ImageRepository string
 	// KubernetesVersion Kubernetes version
-	KubernetesVersion string
+	KubernetesVersion semver.Version
 }
 
 // ListOptions are the options to use for listing containers
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go b/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
index ffa0aa7c186d..19bdce0fb2f6 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/machine/cache_images.go
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ func LoadImages(cc *config.ClusterConfig, runner command.Runner, images []string
 	}()
 
 	var g errgroup.Group
+
 	cr, err := cruntime.New(cruntime.Config{Type: cc.KubernetesConfig.ContainerRuntime, Runner: runner})
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "runtime")
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/node/config.go b/pkg/minikube/node/config.go
index e93a7fc4d87b..66716557f2ec 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/node/config.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/node/config.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine"
 	"github.com/docker/machine/libmachine/host"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -55,9 +56,13 @@ var (
 )
 
 // configureRuntimes does what needs to happen to get a runtime going.
-func configureRuntimes(runner cruntime.CommandRunner, drvName string, k8s config.KubernetesConfig) cruntime.Manager {
-	config := cruntime.Config{Type: viper.GetString(containerRuntime), Runner: runner, ImageRepository: k8s.ImageRepository, KubernetesVersion: k8s.KubernetesVersion}
-	cr, err := cruntime.New(config)
+func configureRuntimes(runner cruntime.CommandRunner, drvName string, k8s config.KubernetesConfig, kv semver.Version) cruntime.Manager {
+	co := cruntime.Config{
+		Type:   viper.GetString(containerRuntime),
+		Runner: runner, ImageRepository: k8s.ImageRepository,
+		KubernetesVersion: kv,
+	}
+	cr, err := cruntime.New(co)
 	if err != nil {
 		exit.WithError("Failed runtime", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/node/start.go b/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
index 8dfbde664360..249fe5cf1b25 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/node/start.go
@@ -62,8 +62,13 @@ func Start(mc config.ClusterConfig, n config.Node, primary bool, existingAddons
 	// wait for preloaded tarball to finish downloading before configuring runtimes
 	waitCacheRequiredImages(&cacheGroup)
 
+	sv, err := util.ParseKubernetesVersion(mc.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	// configure the runtime (docker, containerd, crio)
-	cr := configureRuntimes(mRunner, driverName, mc.KubernetesConfig)
+	cr := configureRuntimes(mRunner, driverName, mc.KubernetesConfig, sv)
 	showVersionInfo(k8sVersion, cr)
 
 	//TODO(sharifelgamal): Part out the cluster-wide operations, perhaps using the "primary" param
diff --git a/pkg/util/utils.go b/pkg/util/utils.go
index 9ab0a57bb361..1e4cf0394248 100644
--- a/pkg/util/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/util/utils.go
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 
-	units "github.com/docker/go-units"
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
+	"github.com/docker/go-units"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/exit"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/out"
@@ -89,3 +90,8 @@ func MaybeChownDirRecursiveToMinikubeUser(dir string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// ParseKubernetesVersion parses the kubernetes version
+func ParseKubernetesVersion(version string) (semver.Version, error) {
+	return semver.Make(version[1:])
+}
diff --git a/pkg/util/utils_test.go b/pkg/util/utils_test.go
index b8a3514d28d5..5b705a508fde 100644
--- a/pkg/util/utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/utils_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ package util
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
 )
 
 func TestGetBinaryDownloadURL(t *testing.T) {
@@ -58,3 +60,13 @@ func TestCalculateSizeInMB(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestParseKubernetesVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	version, err := ParseKubernetesVersion("v1.8.0-alpha.5")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error parsing version: %v", err)
+	}
+	if version.NE(semver.MustParse("1.8.0-alpha.5")) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected: %s, Actual:%s", "1.8.0-alpha.5", version)
+	}
+}