diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller.go
index dd388c61c0c7..f71bdec07431 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller.go
@@ -85,12 +85,6 @@ type KubeadmControlPlaneReconciler struct {
 
 	managementCluster         internal.ManagementCluster
 	managementClusterUncached internal.ManagementCluster
-
-	// disableInPlacePropagation should only be used for tests. This is used to skip
-	// some parts of the controller that need SSA as the current test setup does not
-	// support SSA. This flag should be dropped after all affected tests are migrated
-	// to envtest.
-	disableInPlacePropagation bool
 	ssaCache                  ssa.Cache
 }
 
@@ -375,10 +369,8 @@ func (r *KubeadmControlPlaneReconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, controlPl
 		return result, err
 	}
 
-	if !r.disableInPlacePropagation {
-		if err := r.syncMachines(ctx, controlPlane); err != nil {
-			return ctrl.Result{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to sync Machines")
-		}
+	if err := r.syncMachines(ctx, controlPlane); err != nil {
+		return ctrl.Result{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to sync Machines")
 	}
 
 	// Aggregate the operational state of all the machines; while aggregating we are adding the
diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller_test.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller_test.go
index e364176b0b25..6f1808c47120 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller_test.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/controller_test.go
@@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@ kubernetesVersion: metav1.16.1`,
 				Status: internal.ClusterStatus{},
 			},
 		},
-		disableInPlacePropagation: true,
+		ssaCache: ssa.NewCache(),
 	}
 
 	result, err := r.Reconcile(ctx, ctrl.Request{NamespacedName: util.ObjectKey(kcp)})
diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/scale_test.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/scale_test.go
index a74cf0025b30..393e08de4f65 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/scale_test.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/scale_test.go
@@ -213,14 +213,13 @@ func TestKubeadmControlPlaneReconciler_scaleUpControlPlane(t *testing.T) {
 			managementCluster:         fmc,
 			managementClusterUncached: fmc,
 			recorder:                  record.NewFakeRecorder(32),
-			disableInPlacePropagation: true,
 		}
 
 		controlPlane, adoptableMachineFound, err := r.initControlPlaneScope(ctx, cluster, kcp)
 		g.Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 		g.Expect(adoptableMachineFound).To(BeFalse())
 
-		result, err := r.reconcile(context.Background(), controlPlane)
+		result, err := r.scaleUpControlPlane(context.Background(), controlPlane)
 		g.Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 		g.Expect(result).To(Equal(ctrl.Result{RequeueAfter: preflightFailedRequeueAfter}))
 
diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/upgrade_test.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/upgrade_test.go
index ea591525a772..78e4db4e9eec 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/upgrade_test.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/controllers/upgrade_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import (
 	bootstrapv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/bootstrap/kubeadm/api/v1beta1"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/controlplane/kubeadm/internal"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/internal/test/builder"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/internal/util/ssa"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/collections"
 )
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ func TestKubeadmControlPlaneReconciler_RolloutStrategy_ScaleUp(t *testing.T) {
 				Status: internal.ClusterStatus{Nodes: 1},
 			},
 		},
-		disableInPlacePropagation: true,
+		ssaCache: ssa.NewCache(),
 	}
 	controlPlane := &internal.ControlPlane{
 		KCP:      kcp,