diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
index aafd37a528385..d3d6f190e1b24 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/options/options.go
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func (f *KubeletFlags) AddFlags(mainfs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	f.addOSFlags(fs)
 
 	fs.StringVar(&f.KubeletConfigFile, "config", f.KubeletConfigFile, "The Kubelet will load its initial configuration from this file. The path may be absolute or relative; relative paths start at the Kubelet's current working directory. Omit this flag to use the built-in default configuration values. Command-line flags override configuration from this file.")
-	fs.StringVar(&f.KubeletDropinConfigDirectory, "config-dir", "", "Path to a directory to specify drop-ins, allows the user to optionally specify additional configs to overwrite what is provided by default and in the KubeletConfigFile flag. Note: Set the 'KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA' environment variable to specify the directory. [default='']")
+	fs.StringVar(&f.KubeletDropinConfigDirectory, "config-dir", "", "Path to a directory to specify drop-ins, allows the user to optionally specify additional configs to overwrite what is provided by default and in the KubeletConfigFile flag. [default='']")
 	fs.StringVar(&f.KubeConfig, "kubeconfig", f.KubeConfig, "Path to a kubeconfig file, specifying how to connect to the API server. Providing --kubeconfig enables API server mode, omitting --kubeconfig enables standalone mode.")
 
 	fs.StringVar(&f.BootstrapKubeconfig, "bootstrap-kubeconfig", f.BootstrapKubeconfig, "Path to a kubeconfig file that will be used to get client certificate for kubelet. "+
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 76e8cdf7b99a6..e705415529130 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -214,10 +214,6 @@ is checked every 20 seconds (also configurable with a flag).`,
 			}
 			// Merge the kubelet configurations if --config-dir is set
 			if len(kubeletFlags.KubeletDropinConfigDirectory) > 0 {
-				_, ok := os.LookupEnv("KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA")
-				if !ok {
-					return fmt.Errorf("flag %s specified but environment variable KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA not set, cannot start kubelet", kubeletFlags.KubeletDropinConfigDirectory)
-				}
 				if err := mergeKubeletConfigurations(kubeletConfig, kubeletFlags.KubeletDropinConfigDirectory); err != nil {
 					return fmt.Errorf("failed to merge kubelet configs: %w", err)
 				}
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/services/kubelet.go b/test/e2e_node/services/kubelet.go
index 1b9842f25e504..22b6e182c3d5c 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/services/kubelet.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/services/kubelet.go
@@ -249,8 +249,6 @@ func (e *E2EServices) startKubelet(featureGates map[string]bool) (*server, error
 		unitName = fmt.Sprintf("kubelet-%s.service", unitTimestamp)
 		cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs,
 			systemdRun,
-			// Set the environment variable to enable kubelet config drop-in directory.
-			"--setenv", "KUBELET_CONFIG_DROPIN_DIR_ALPHA=yes",
 			"-p", "Delegate=true",
 			"-p", logLocation+framework.TestContext.ReportDir+"/kubelet.log",
 			"--unit="+unitName,