diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
index 548fcfebdf..3f6b1fbc4e 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
@@ -576,6 +576,8 @@ func TestConfigParse(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		master := m.(*nfdMaster)
 		overrides := `{"noPublish": true, "enableTaints": true, "extraLabelNs": ["added.ns.io","added.kubernetes.io"], "denyLabelNs": ["denied.ns.io","denied.kubernetes.io"], "resourceLabels": ["vendor-1.com/feature-1","vendor-2.io/feature-2"], "labelWhiteList": "foo"}`
+		// Set fake (and invalid) apiserver address so that configuration doesn't fail in parsing the kubeconfig
+		os.Setenv("KUBERNETES_MASTER", ".")
 
 		Convey("and no core cmdline flags have been specified", func() {
 			So(master.configure("non-existing-file", overrides), ShouldBeNil)
diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
index 754fcce056..bf37bf4758 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
@@ -749,10 +749,6 @@ func (m *nfdMaster) nfdAPIUpdateOneNode(node *corev1.Node) error {
 		return objs[i].Namespace < objs[j].Namespace
 	})
 
-	if m.config.NoPublish {
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	klog.V(1).InfoS("processing of node initiated by NodeFeature API", "nodeName", node.Name)
 
 	features := nfdv1alpha1.NewNodeFeatureSpec()
@@ -854,6 +850,11 @@ func (m *nfdMaster) refreshNodeFeatures(node *corev1.Node, labels map[string]str
 		taints = filterTaints(crTaints)
 	}
 
+	if m.config.NoPublish {
+		klog.V(1).InfoS("node update skipped, NoPublish=true", "nodeName", node.Name)
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	err := m.updateNodeObject(node, labels, annotations, extendedResources, taints)
 	if err != nil {
 		klog.ErrorS(err, "failed to update node", "nodeName", node.Name)
@@ -1229,17 +1230,15 @@ func (m *nfdMaster) configure(filepath string, overrides string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if !c.NoPublish {
-		kubeconfig, err := utils.GetKubeconfig(m.args.Kubeconfig)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		cli, err := k8sclient.NewForConfig(kubeconfig)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		m.k8sClient = cli
+	kubeconfig, err := utils.GetKubeconfig(m.args.Kubeconfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	cli, err := k8sclient.NewForConfig(kubeconfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
+	m.k8sClient = cli
 
 	// Pre-process DenyLabelNS into 2 lists: one for normal ns, and the other for wildcard ns
 	normalDeniedNs, wildcardDeniedNs := preProcessDeniedNamespaces(c.DenyLabelNs)
diff --git a/pkg/nfd-worker/nfd-worker_test.go b/pkg/nfd-worker/nfd-worker_test.go
index 4df97e7dbc..48ab0657a6 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-worker/nfd-worker_test.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-worker/nfd-worker_test.go
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ func setupTest(args *master.Args) testContext {
 
 	// Run nfd-master instance, intended to be used as the server counterpart
 	go func() {
+		// Set fake (and invalid) apiserver address so that nfd-master configuration doesn't fail in parsing the kubeconfig
+		os.Setenv("KUBERNETES_MASTER", ".")
 		ctx.errs <- ctx.master.Run()
 		close(ctx.errs)
 	}()