diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/libdocker/kube_docker_client.go b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/libdocker/kube_docker_client.go
index e458a8fc70..7f961297a5 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/libdocker/kube_docker_client.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/dockershim/libdocker/kube_docker_client.go
@@ -85,15 +85,12 @@ func newKubeDockerClient(dockerClient *dockerapi.Client, requestTimeout, imagePu
 		timeout:                   requestTimeout,
 		imagePullProgressDeadline: imagePullProgressDeadline,
 	}
+
 	// Notice that this assumes that docker is running before kubelet is started.
-	v, err := k.Version()
-	if err != nil {
-		klog.Errorf("failed to retrieve docker version: %v", err)
-		klog.Warningf("Using empty version for docker client, this may sometimes cause compatibility issue.")
-	} else {
-		// Update client version with real api version.
-		dockerClient.NegotiateAPIVersionPing(dockertypes.Ping{APIVersion: v.APIVersion})
-	}
+	ctx, cancel := k.getTimeoutContext()
+	defer cancel()
+	dockerClient.NegotiateAPIVersion(ctx)
+
 	return k
 }