diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start_flags.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start_flags.go
index 5b768a526702..c6b5eb7ac12c 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start_flags.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start_flags.go
@@ -249,9 +249,9 @@ func generateClusterConfig(cmd *cobra.Command, existing *config.ClusterConfig, k
 				selectedEnableDefaultCNI = true
 			}
 		}
-
 		repository := viper.GetString(imageRepository)
 		mirrorCountry := strings.ToLower(viper.GetString(imageMirrorCountry))
+
 		if strings.ToLower(repository) == "auto" || mirrorCountry != "" {
 			found, autoSelectedRepository, err := selectImageRepository(mirrorCountry, semver.MustParse(strings.TrimPrefix(k8sVersion, version.VersionPrefix)))
 			if err != nil {
@@ -471,7 +471,14 @@ func updateExistingConfigFromFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, existing *config.ClusterC
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Flags().Changed(kubernetesVersion) {
-		existing.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion = viper.GetString(kubernetesVersion)
+		switch viper.GetString(kubernetesVersion) {
+		case "latest":
+			existing.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion = constants.NewestKubernetesVersion
+		case "stable":
+			existing.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion = constants.DefaultKubernetesVersion
+		default:
+			existing.KubernetesConfig.KubernetesVersion = viper.GetString(kubernetesVersion)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Flags().Changed(apiServerName) {