diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3d9ad56..db41c4c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ GO111MODULE = on
 
 # ====================================================================================
 # Setup Kubernetes tools
-KIND_VERSION = v0.7.0
+KIND_VERSION ?= v0.11.1
+KIND_NODE_IMAGE_TAG ?= v1.19.11
 USE_HELM3 = true
 -include build/makelib/k8s_tools.mk
 
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ e2e.run: test-integration
 # Run integration tests.
 test-integration: $(KIND) $(KUBECTL) $(HELM3)
 	@$(INFO) running integration tests using kind $(KIND_VERSION)
-	@$(ROOT_DIR)/cluster/integration/integration_tests.sh || $(FAIL)
+	@KIND_NODE_IMAGE_TAG=${KIND_NODE_IMAGE_TAG} $(ROOT_DIR)/cluster/local/integration_tests.sh || $(FAIL)
 	@$(OK) integration tests passed
 
 # Update the submodules, such as the common build scripts.
diff --git a/cluster/integration/integration_tests.sh b/cluster/integration/integration_tests.sh
index ab76e4e..5b05c99 100755
--- a/cluster/integration/integration_tests.sh
+++ b/cluster/integration/integration_tests.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ echo "created cache dir at ${CACHE_PATH}"
 docker save "${BUILD_IMAGE}" -o "${CACHE_PATH}/${PACKAGE_NAME}.xpkg" && chmod 644 "${CACHE_PATH}/${PACKAGE_NAME}.xpkg"
 
 # create kind cluster with extra mounts
-echo_step "creating k8s cluster using kind"
+KIND_NODE_IMAGE="kindest/node:${KIND_NODE_IMAGE_TAG}"
+echo_step "creating k8s cluster using kind ${KIND_VERSION} and node image ${KIND_NODE_IMAGE}"
 KIND_CONFIG="$( cat <<EOF
 kind: Cluster
 apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ nodes:
     containerPath: /cache
 EOF
 )"
-echo "${KIND_CONFIG}" | "${KIND}" create cluster --name="${K8S_CLUSTER}" --wait=5m --config=-
+echo "${KIND_CONFIG}" | "${KIND}" create cluster --name="${K8S_CLUSTER}" --wait=5m --image="${KIND_NODE_IMAGE}" --config=-
 
 # tag controller image and load it into kind cluster
 docker tag "${CONTROLLER_IMAGE}" "${PACKAGE_CONTROLLER_IMAGE}"