diff --git a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/add.go b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/add.go
index e8d2f703..d13e87a7 100644
--- a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/add.go
+++ b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/add.go
@@ -106,8 +106,10 @@ func (o *AddNodeOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (*kkcorev1.
 
 // complete updates the configuration with container manager and kubernetes version settings
 func (o *AddNodeOptions) complete() error {
-	if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+	if _, ok, _ := unstructured.NestedFieldNoCopy(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), "kube_version"); !ok {
+		if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+		}
 	}
 
 	var addNodes []string
diff --git a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/create.go b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/create.go
index f1f59cfb..3d178423 100644
--- a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/create.go
+++ b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/create.go
@@ -101,9 +101,10 @@ func (o *CreateClusterOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (*kkc
 }
 
 func (o *CreateClusterOptions) completeConfig() error {
-
-	if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+	if _, ok, _ := unstructured.NestedFieldNoCopy(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), "kube_version"); !ok {
+		if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/delete.go b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/delete.go
index 88dfc631..7fd45f27 100644
--- a/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/delete.go
+++ b/cmd/kk/app/options/builtin/delete.go
@@ -104,8 +104,10 @@ func (o *DeleteClusterOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (*kkc
 
 // completeConfig updates the configuration with container manager settings
 func (o *DeleteClusterOptions) completeConfig() error {
-	if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+	if _, ok, _ := unstructured.NestedFieldNoCopy(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), "kube_version"); !ok {
+		if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -184,8 +186,10 @@ func (o *DeleteNodesOptions) Complete(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (*kkcor
 
 // completeConfig updates the configuration with container manager settings
 func (o *DeleteNodesOptions) completeConfig(nodes []string) error {
-	if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+	if _, ok, _ := unstructured.NestedFieldNoCopy(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), "kube_version"); !ok {
+		if err := unstructured.SetNestedField(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), o.Kubernetes, "kube_version"); err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "kube_version")
+		}
 	}
 	if err := unstructured.SetNestedStringSlice(o.CommonOptions.Config.Value(), nodes, "delete_nodes"); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to set %q to config", "delete_nodes")