diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/container/start.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/container/start.go
index 37f09c1908e49..c04c38443025e 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/container/start.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/container/start.go
@@ -119,10 +119,11 @@ Start a three-broker cluster:
 Start a single-broker cluster, selecting random ports for every listener:
   rpk container start --any-port
 
-Start a three-broker cluster, selecting the seed kafka and console port only:
+Start a three-broker cluster, selecting the seed Kafka and Redpanda Console 
+ports only:
   rpk container start --kafka-ports 9092 --console-port 8080
 
-Start a three-broker cluster, selecting every admin API port:
+Start a three-broker cluster, selecting the Admin API port for each broker:
   rpk container start --admin-ports 9644,9645,9646
 `,
 		FParseErrWhitelist: cobra.FParseErrWhitelist{
@@ -322,9 +323,9 @@ func startCluster(
 		seedID,
 		nodeAddr(seedKafkaPort),
 	}
-	kafkaAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("%v:%d", seedState.ContainerIP, seedKafkaPort)}
-	srAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", seedID, seedSchemaRegPort)}
-	adminAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", seedID, seedAdminPort)}
+	kafkaAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("%v:%d", seedState.ContainerIP, config.DefaultKafkaPort)}
+	srAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", seedID, config.DefaultSchemaRegPort)}
+	adminAddr := []string{fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", seedID, config.DefaultAdminPort)}
 
 	nodes := []node{seedNode}
 
@@ -374,9 +375,9 @@ func startCluster(
 				id:   id,
 				addr: nodeAddr(state.HostKafkaPort),
 			})
-			kafkaAddr = append(kafkaAddr, fmt.Sprintf("%v:%d", state.ContainerIP, kafkaPort))
-			srAddr = append(srAddr, fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", id, schemaRegPort))
-			adminAddr = append(adminAddr, fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", id, adminPort))
+			kafkaAddr = append(kafkaAddr, fmt.Sprintf("%v:%d", state.ContainerIP, config.DefaultKafkaPort))
+			srAddr = append(srAddr, fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", id, config.DefaultSchemaRegPort))
+			adminAddr = append(adminAddr, fmt.Sprintf("http://rp-node-%d:%d", id, config.DefaultAdminPort))
 			mu.Unlock()
 			return nil
 		})