diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
index 5000478df59e..0d3db5d14fb2 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images.go
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 package images
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
+	"net/http"
 	"path"
 
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
@@ -28,6 +32,11 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/version"
 )
 
+const (
+	// builds a docker v2 repository API call in the format https://k8s.gcr.io/v2/coredns/coredns/tags/list
+	tagURLTemplate = "https://%s/v2/%s/tags/list"
+)
+
 // Pause returns the image name to pull for a given Kubernetes version
 func Pause(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// Note: changing this logic requires bumping the preload version
@@ -35,8 +44,10 @@ func Pause(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants_unix.go
 	pv := "3.6"
-	majorMinorVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", v.Major, v.Minor)
 	imageName := "pause"
+	pv = findLatestTagFromRepository(fmt.Sprintf(tagURLTemplate, kubernetesRepo(mirror), imageName), pv)
+	majorMinorVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", v.Major, v.Minor)
+
 	if pVersion, ok := constants.KubeadmImages[majorMinorVersion][imageName]; ok {
 		pv = pVersion
 	}
@@ -64,14 +75,54 @@ func componentImage(name string, v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s:v%s", path.Join(kubernetesRepo(mirror), name), v)
 }
 
+// fixes 13136 by getting the latest image version from the k8s.gcr.io repository instead of hardcoded
+func findLatestTagFromRepository(url string, lastKnownGood string) string {
+	client := &http.Client{}
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Infof("Failed to get latest image version for %s, reverting to version %s\n", url, lastKnownGood)
+		return lastKnownGood
+	}
+
+	resp, err := client.Do(req)
+
+	if err != nil || resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		klog.Infof("Failed to get latest image version for %s, reverting to version %s\n", url, lastKnownGood)
+		return lastKnownGood
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Infof("Failed to read latest image version for %s, reverting to version %s\n", url, lastKnownGood)
+		return lastKnownGood
+	}
+
+	type TagsResponse struct {
+		Name string   `json:"name"`
+		Tags []string `json:"tags"`
+	}
+
+	tags := TagsResponse{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &tags)
+	if err != nil || len(tags.Tags) < 1 {
+		klog.Infof("Failed to read latest image version for %s, reverting to version %s\n", url, lastKnownGood)
+		return lastKnownGood
+	}
+	lastTagNum := len(tags.Tags) - 1
+	return tags.Tags[lastTagNum]
+}
+
 // coreDNS returns the images used for CoreDNS
 func coreDNS(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// Note: changing this logic requires bumping the preload version
 	// Should match `CoreDNSImageName` and `CoreDNSVersion` in
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
 
-	cv := "1.8.4"
 	in := "coredns/coredns"
+	cv := "v1.8.6"
+	cv = findLatestTagFromRepository(fmt.Sprintf(tagURLTemplate, kubernetesRepo(mirror), in), cv)
 	if semver.MustParseRange("<1.21.0-alpha.1")(v) {
 		in = "coredns"
 	}
@@ -90,8 +141,9 @@ func etcd(v semver.Version, mirror string) string {
 	// Should match `DefaultEtcdVersion` in:
 	// https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
 	ev := "3.5.0-0"
-	majorMinorVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", v.Major, v.Minor)
 	imageName := "etcd"
+	ev = findLatestTagFromRepository(fmt.Sprintf(tagURLTemplate, kubernetesRepo(mirror), ev), ev)
+	majorMinorVersion := fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", v.Major, v.Minor)
 	if eVersion, ok := constants.KubeadmImages[majorMinorVersion][imageName]; ok {
 		ev = eVersion
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images_test.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images_test.go
index 2d2280016f5a..65fac2e26e92 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images_test.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/images/images_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package images
 
 import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -91,6 +93,40 @@ k8s.gcr.io/coredns/coredns:v1.8.4
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetLatestTag(t *testing.T) {
+	serverResp := "{tags: [\"1.8.7\"]}"
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+		_, err := w.Write([]byte(serverResp))
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("failed to write https response")
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	var testCases = []struct {
+		name          string
+		url           string
+		lastKnownGood string
+		wsResponse    string
+		expect        string
+	}{
+		{name: "VersionGetSuccess", url: server.URL, lastKnownGood: "v1.8.6", wsResponse: `{"name": "coredns", "tags": ["v1.8.9"]}`, expect: "v1.8.9"},
+		{name: "VersionGetFail", url: server.URL, lastKnownGood: "v1.8.6", wsResponse: `{"name": "nah", "nope": ["v1.8.9"]}`, expect: "v1.8.6"},
+		{name: "VersionGetFailNone", url: server.URL, lastKnownGood: "v1.8.6", wsResponse: ``, expect: "v1.8.6"},
+		{name: "VersionGetSuccessMultiple", url: server.URL, lastKnownGood: "v1.8.6", wsResponse: `{"name": "coredns", "tags": ["1.8.7","v1.8.9"]}`, expect: "v1.8.9"},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			serverResp = tc.wsResponse
+			resp := findLatestTagFromRepository(tc.url, tc.lastKnownGood)
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(tc.expect, resp); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Incorrect response version (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAuxiliary(t *testing.T) {
 	want := []string{
 		"gcr.io/k8s-minikube/storage-provisioner:" + version.GetStorageProvisionerVersion(),