diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/config/defaults.go b/pkg/kubelet/config/defaults.go
index 16bd6cb564..96ab9cebac 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/config/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/config/defaults.go
@@ -17,11 +17,12 @@ limitations under the License.
 package config
 
 const (
-	DefaultKubeletPodsDirName             = "pods"
-	DefaultKubeletVolumesDirName          = "volumes"
-	DefaultKubeletVolumeDevicesDirName    = "volumeDevices"
-	DefaultKubeletPluginsDirName          = "plugins"
-	DefaultKubeletContainersDirName       = "containers"
-	DefaultKubeletPluginContainersDirName = "plugin-containers"
-	DefaultKubeletPodResourcesDirName     = "pod-resources"
+	DefaultKubeletPodsDirName                = "pods"
+	DefaultKubeletVolumesDirName             = "volumes"
+	DefaultKubeletVolumeDevicesDirName       = "volumeDevices"
+	DefaultKubeletPluginsDirName             = "plugins"
+	DefaultKubeletPluginsRegistrationDirName = "plugins_registry"
+	DefaultKubeletContainersDirName          = "containers"
+	DefaultKubeletPluginContainersDirName    = "plugin-containers"
+	DefaultKubeletPodResourcesDirName        = "pod-resources"
 )
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 0e065a1b62..c44bbb0ede 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ func NewMainKubelet(kubeCfg *kubeletconfiginternal.KubeletConfiguration,
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if klet.enablePluginsWatcher {
-		klet.pluginWatcher = pluginwatcher.NewWatcher(klet.getPluginsDir())
+		klet.pluginWatcher = pluginwatcher.NewWatcher(klet.getPluginsRegistrationDir())
 	}
 
 	// If the experimentalMounterPathFlag is set, we do not want to
@@ -1260,6 +1260,9 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) setupDataDirs() error {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(kl.getPluginsDir(), 0750); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error creating plugins directory: %v", err)
 	}
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(kl.getPluginsRegistrationDir(), 0750); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error creating plugins registry directory: %v", err)
+	}
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(kl.getPodResourcesDir(), 0750); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error creating podresources directory: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_getters.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_getters.go
index 3e6bc43e9b..eb05a578c0 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_getters.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_getters.go
@@ -57,6 +57,14 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) getPluginsDir() string {
 	return filepath.Join(kl.getRootDir(), config.DefaultKubeletPluginsDirName)
 }
 
+// getPluginsRegistrationDir returns the full path to the directory under which
+// plugins socket should be placed to be registered.
+// More information is available about plugin registration in the pluginwatcher
+// module
+func (kl *Kubelet) getPluginsRegistrationDir() string {
+	return filepath.Join(kl.getRootDir(), config.DefaultKubeletPluginsRegistrationDirName)
+}
+
 // getPluginDir returns a data directory name for a given plugin name.
 // Plugins can use these directories to store data that they need to persist.
 // For per-pod plugin data, see getPodPluginDir.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/util/pluginwatcher/plugin_watcher.go b/pkg/kubelet/util/pluginwatcher/plugin_watcher.go
index 03970f3cc0..06076c6ffa 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/util/pluginwatcher/plugin_watcher.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/util/pluginwatcher/plugin_watcher.go
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ func (w *Watcher) traversePluginDir(dir string) error {
 }
 
 // Handle filesystem notify event.
+// Files names:
+// - MUST NOT start with a '.'
 func (w *Watcher) handleCreateEvent(event fsnotify.Event) error {
 	klog.V(6).Infof("Handling create event: %v", event)
 
@@ -220,11 +222,16 @@ func (w *Watcher) handleCreateEvent(event fsnotify.Event) error {
 	}
 
 	if strings.HasPrefix(fi.Name(), ".") {
-		klog.Errorf("Ignoring file: %s", fi.Name())
+		klog.V(5).Infof("Ignoring file (starts with '.'): %s", fi.Name())
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	if !fi.IsDir() {
+		if fi.Mode()&os.ModeSocket == 0 {
+			klog.V(5).Infof("Ignoring non socket file %s", fi.Name())
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		return w.handlePluginRegistration(event.Name)
 	}
 
@@ -290,7 +297,8 @@ func (w *Watcher) handleDeleteEvent(event fsnotify.Event) error {
 
 	plugin, ok := w.getPlugin(event.Name)
 	if !ok {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not find plugin for deleted file %s", event.Name)
+		klog.V(5).Infof("could not find plugin for deleted file %s", event.Name)
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	// You should not get a Deregister call while registering a plugin
diff --git a/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/gce-pd/node_ds.yaml b/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/gce-pd/node_ds.yaml
index 5f2f1ddd33..0ed8af1499 100644
--- a/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/gce-pd/node_ds.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/gce-pd/node_ds.yaml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ spec:
       volumes:
         - name: registration-dir
           hostPath:
-            path: /var/lib/kubelet/plugins/
+            path: /var/lib/kubelet/plugins_registry/
             type: Directory
         - name: kubelet-dir
           hostPath:
diff --git a/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/hostpath/hostpath/csi-hostpathplugin.yaml b/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/hostpath/hostpath/csi-hostpathplugin.yaml
index 4df7cea194..2c66e11eca 100644
--- a/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/hostpath/hostpath/csi-hostpathplugin.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/testing-manifests/storage-csi/hostpath/hostpath/csi-hostpathplugin.yaml
@@ -65,6 +65,6 @@ spec:
             type: DirectoryOrCreate
           name: mountpoint-dir
         - hostPath:
-            path: /var/lib/kubelet/plugins
+            path: /var/lib/kubelet/plugins_registry
             type: Directory
           name: registration-dir
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/device_plugin.go b/test/e2e_node/device_plugin.go
index 3951f8c538..3adde19871 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/device_plugin.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/device_plugin.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("Device Plugin [Feature:DevicePlugin][NodeFeature
 
 var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("Device Plugin [Feature:DevicePluginProbe][NodeFeature:DevicePluginProbe][Serial]", func() {
 	f := framework.NewDefaultFramework("device-plugin-errors")
-	testDevicePlugin(f, true, "/var/lib/kubelet/plugins/")
+	testDevicePlugin(f, true, "/var/lib/kubelet/plugins_registry")
 })
 
 func testDevicePlugin(f *framework.Framework, enablePluginWatcher bool, pluginSockDir string) {