diff --git a/docs/src/topics/flavors/k3s.md b/docs/src/topics/flavors/k3s.md
index 3d47a221..9192ccde 100644
--- a/docs/src/topics/flavors/k3s.md
+++ b/docs/src/topics/flavors/k3s.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 * [Quickstart](../topics/getting-started.md) completed
 * Select a [k3s kubernetes version](https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases) to set for the kubernetes version
   ```bash
-  export KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.29.1+k3s2
+  export K3S_KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.29.1+k3s2
   ```
 * Installed [k3s bootstrap provider](https://github.com/k3s-io/cluster-api-k3s) into your management cluster
   * Add the following to `~/.cluster-api/clusterctl.yaml` for the k3s bootstrap/control plane providers
diff --git a/docs/src/topics/flavors/rke2.md b/docs/src/topics/flavors/rke2.md
index 309b3391..be70b610 100644
--- a/docs/src/topics/flavors/rke2.md
+++ b/docs/src/topics/flavors/rke2.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 * [Quickstart](../topics/getting-started.md) completed
 * Select an [rke2 kubernetes version](https://github.com/rancher/rke2/releases) to set for the kubernetes version
   ```bash
-  export KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.29.1+rke2r1
+  export RKE2_KUBERNETES_VERSION=v1.29.1+rke2r1
   ```
 * Installed [rke2 bootstrap provider](https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/cluster-api-provider-rke2) into your management cluster
   ```shell
diff --git a/templates/flavors/k3s/k3sControlPlane.yaml b/templates/flavors/k3s/k3sControlPlane.yaml
index ec81c48f..0b19633b 100644
--- a/templates/flavors/k3s/k3sControlPlane.yaml
+++ b/templates/flavors/k3s/k3sControlPlane.yaml
@@ -47,4 +47,4 @@ spec:
       - sed -i '/swap/d' /etc/fstab
       - swapoff -a
   replicas: ${CONTROL_PLANE_MACHINE_COUNT}
-  version: ${KUBERNETES_VERSION}
+  version: ${K3S_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
diff --git a/templates/flavors/k3s/kustomization.yaml b/templates/flavors/k3s/kustomization.yaml
index 76801b13..82dd783d 100644
--- a/templates/flavors/k3s/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/templates/flavors/k3s/kustomization.yaml
@@ -22,3 +22,11 @@ patches:
       - op: replace
         path: /spec/template/spec/bootstrap/configRef/kind
         value: KThreesConfigTemplate
+  - target:
+      group: cluster.x-k8s.io
+      version: v1beta1
+      kind: MachineDeployment
+    patch: |-
+      - op: replace
+        path: /spec/template/spec/version
+        value: ${K3S_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
diff --git a/templates/flavors/rke2/kustomization.yaml b/templates/flavors/rke2/kustomization.yaml
index fdfed62d..34108ba7 100644
--- a/templates/flavors/rke2/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/templates/flavors/rke2/kustomization.yaml
@@ -22,3 +22,11 @@ patches:
       - op: replace
         path: /spec/template/spec/bootstrap/configRef/kind
         value: RKE2ConfigTemplate
+  - target:
+      group: cluster.x-k8s.io
+      version: v1beta1
+      kind: MachineDeployment
+    patch: |-
+      - op: replace
+        path: /spec/template/spec/version
+        value: ${RKE2_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
diff --git a/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ConfigTemplate.yaml b/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ConfigTemplate.yaml
index cb559560..61d2db04 100644
--- a/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ConfigTemplate.yaml
+++ b/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ConfigTemplate.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ spec:
   template:
     spec:
       agentConfig:
-        version: ${KUBERNETES_VERSION}
+        version: ${RKE2_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
         nodeName: '{{ ds.meta_data.label }}'
         kubelet:
           extraArgs:
diff --git a/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ControlPlane.yaml b/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ControlPlane.yaml
index 680a7f17..f066303f 100644
--- a/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ControlPlane.yaml
+++ b/templates/flavors/rke2/rke2ControlPlane.yaml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ spec:
       kubernetesComponents:
         - "cloudController"
   agentConfig:
-    version: ${KUBERNETES_VERSION}
+    version: ${RKE2_KUBERNETES_VERSION}
     nodeName: '{{ ds.meta_data.label }}'
     kubelet:
       extraArgs: