diff --git a/src/k8s/go.mod b/src/k8s/go.mod
index 59588a879..effc3bd48 100644
--- a/src/k8s/go.mod
+++ b/src/k8s/go.mod
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/canonical/go-dqlite v1.21.0
 	github.com/canonical/lxd v0.0.0-20231002162033-38796399c135
 	github.com/canonical/microcluster v0.0.0-20240122235408-1525f8ea8d7a
-	github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0
 	github.com/moby/sys/mountinfo v0.7.1
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.30.0
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml v1.9.5
diff --git a/src/k8s/go.sum b/src/k8s/go.sum
index 97640975f..b359eb714 100644
--- a/src/k8s/go.sum
+++ b/src/k8s/go.sum
@@ -464,8 +464,6 @@ github.com/mitchellh/iochan v1.0.0/go.mod h1:JwYml1nuB7xOzsp52dPpHFffvOCDupsG0Qu
 github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v0.0.0-20160808181253-ca63d7c062ee/go.mod h1:FVVH3fgwuzCH5S8UJGiWEs2h04kUh9fWfEaFds41c1Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.1.2/go.mod h1:FVVH3fgwuzCH5S8UJGiWEs2h04kUh9fWfEaFds41c1Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.4.1/go.mod h1:bFUtVrKA4DC2yAKiSyO/QUcy7e+RRV2QTWOzhPopBRo=
-github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0 h1:jeMsZIYE/09sWLaz43PL7Gy6RuMjD2eJVyuac5Z2hdY=
-github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure v1.5.0/go.mod h1:bFUtVrKA4DC2yAKiSyO/QUcy7e+RRV2QTWOzhPopBRo=
 github.com/mitchellh/reflectwalk v1.0.0/go.mod h1:mSTlrgnPZtwu0c4WaC2kGObEpuNDbx0jmZXqmk4esnw=
 github.com/mitchellh/reflectwalk v1.0.2 h1:G2LzWKi524PWgd3mLHV8Y5k7s6XUvT0Gef6zxSIeXaQ=
 github.com/mitchellh/reflectwalk v1.0.2/go.mod h1:mSTlrgnPZtwu0c4WaC2kGObEpuNDbx0jmZXqmk4esnw=
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/component/dns.go b/src/k8s/pkg/component/dns.go
index 019a075a8..1d47e1d6f 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/component/dns.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/component/dns.go
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func ReconcileDNSComponent(ctx context.Context, s snap.Snap, alreadyEnabled *boo
 		if err != nil {
 			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to disable dns: %w", err)
 		}
-		return "", "", nil
+		return clusterConfig.Kubelet.ClusterDNS, clusterConfig.Kubelet.ClusterDomain, nil
 	}
 	return "", "", nil
 }
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_bootstrap.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_bootstrap.go
index c20a1c87e..69ad7ed35 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_bootstrap.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_bootstrap.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func postClusterBootstrap(m *microcluster.MicroCluster, s *state.State, r *http.
 	}
 
 	// Set timeout
-	timeout := utils.TimeoutFromCtx(s.Context, 60*time.Second)
+	timeout := utils.TimeoutFromCtx(r.Context(), 30*time.Second)
 
 	// Bootstrap the cluster
 	if err := m.NewCluster(hostname, req.Address, config, timeout); err != nil {
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_config.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_config.go
index 4cb9cf50a..109a1ff57 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_config.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_config.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 
 	api "github.com/canonical/k8s/api/v1"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/component"
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/k8sd/database"
@@ -152,8 +151,9 @@ func putClusterConfig(s *state.State, r *http.Request) response.Response {
 		}
 	}
 
+	var dnsIP = newConfig.Kubelet.ClusterDNS
 	if req.Config.DNS != nil {
-		dnsIP, _, err := component.ReconcileDNSComponent(r.Context(), snap, oldConfig.DNS.Enabled, req.Config.DNS.Enabled, newConfig)
+		dnsIP, _, err = component.ReconcileDNSComponent(r.Context(), snap, oldConfig.DNS.Enabled, req.Config.DNS.Enabled, newConfig)
 		if err != nil {
 			return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to reconcile dns: %w", err))
 		}
@@ -170,23 +170,20 @@ func putClusterConfig(s *state.State, r *http.Request) response.Response {
 		}); err != nil {
 			return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("database transaction to update cluster configuration failed: %w", err))
 		}
+	}
 
-		var data map[string]string
-		if err := mapstructure.Decode(types.NodeConfig{
-			ClusterDNS:    dnsIP,
-			ClusterDomain: newConfig.Kubelet.ClusterDomain,
-		}, &data); err != nil {
-			return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to encode node config: %w", err))
-		}
+	cmData := types.MapFromNodeConfig(types.NodeConfig{
+		ClusterDNS:    &dnsIP,
+		ClusterDomain: &newConfig.Kubelet.ClusterDomain,
+	})
 
-		client, err := k8s.NewClient(snap.KubernetesRESTClientGetter(""))
-		if err != nil {
-			return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to create kubernetes client: %w", err))
-		}
+	client, err := k8s.NewClient(snap.KubernetesRESTClientGetter(""))
+	if err != nil {
+		return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to create kubernetes client: %w", err))
+	}
 
-		if _, err := client.UpdateConfigMap(r.Context(), "kube-system", "k8sd-config", data); err != nil {
-			return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to update node config: %w", err))
-		}
+	if _, err := client.UpdateConfigMap(r.Context(), "kube-system", "k8sd-config", cmData); err != nil {
+		return response.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("failed to update node config: %w", err))
 	}
 
 	if req.Config.LocalStorage != nil {
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_join.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_join.go
index 883ac7862..67c9f1106 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_join.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/api/cluster_join.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func postClusterJoin(m *microcluster.MicroCluster, s *state.State, r *http.Reque
 		return response.BadRequest(fmt.Errorf("invalid hostname %q: %w", req.Name, err))
 	}
 
-	timeout := utils.TimeoutFromCtx(s.Context, 30*time.Second)
+	timeout := utils.TimeoutFromCtx(r.Context(), 30*time.Second)
 
 	internalToken := types.InternalWorkerNodeToken{}
 	// Check if token is worker token
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_bootstrap.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_bootstrap.go
index 55e648b69..1adb0fec1 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_bootstrap.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_bootstrap.go
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s"
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/utils/vals"
 	"github.com/canonical/microcluster/state"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 )
 
 // onBootstrap is called after we bootstrap the first cluster node.
@@ -290,8 +289,9 @@ func onBootstrapControlPlane(s *state.State, initConfig map[string]string) error
 		}
 	}
 
+	var dnsIP = cfg.Kubelet.ClusterDNS
 	if cfg.DNS.Enabled != nil {
-		dnsIP, _, err := component.ReconcileDNSComponent(s.Context, snap, vals.Pointer(false), cfg.DNS.Enabled, cfg)
+		dnsIP, _, err = component.ReconcileDNSComponent(s.Context, snap, vals.Pointer(false), cfg.DNS.Enabled, cfg)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to reconcile dns: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -307,23 +307,20 @@ func onBootstrapControlPlane(s *state.State, initConfig map[string]string) error
 		}); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("database transaction to update cluster configuration failed: %w", err)
 		}
+	}
 
-		var data map[string]string
-		if err := mapstructure.Decode(types.NodeConfig{
-			ClusterDNS:    dnsIP,
-			ClusterDomain: cfg.Kubelet.ClusterDomain,
-		}, &data); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to encode node config: %w", err)
-		}
+	cmData := types.MapFromNodeConfig(types.NodeConfig{
+		ClusterDNS:    &dnsIP,
+		ClusterDomain: &cfg.Kubelet.ClusterDomain,
+	})
 
-		client, err := k8s.NewClient(snap.KubernetesRESTClientGetter(""))
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create kubernetes client: %w", err)
-		}
+	client, err := k8s.NewClient(snap.KubernetesRESTClientGetter(""))
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create kubernetes client: %w", err)
+	}
 
-		if _, err := client.UpdateConfigMap(s.Context, "kube-system", "k8sd-config", data); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to update node configs: %w", err)
-		}
+	if _, err := client.UpdateConfigMap(s.Context, "kube-system", "k8sd-config", cmData); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to update node configs: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	if cfg.LocalStorage.Enabled != nil {
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_start.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_start.go
index c365bf22b..2eaeea083 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_start.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/app/hooks_start.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package app
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/k8sd/controllers"
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/snap"
@@ -13,7 +14,20 @@ func onStart(s *state.State) error {
 	snap := snap.SnapFromContext(s.Context)
 
 	configController := controllers.NewNodeConfigurationController(snap, func(ctx context.Context) *k8s.Client {
-		return k8s.RetryNewClient(ctx, snap.KubernetesNodeRESTClientGetter("kube-system"))
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return nil
+			case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+			default:
+			}
+
+			client, err := k8s.NewClient(snap.KubernetesNodeRESTClientGetter("kube-system"))
+			if err != nil {
+				continue
+			}
+			return client
+		}
 	})
 	go configController.Run(s.Context)
 
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/controllers/node_configuration.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/controllers/node_configuration.go
index 26c5729ad..7c4a51c42 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/controllers/node_configuration.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/controllers/node_configuration.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/snap"
 	snaputil "github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/snap/util"
 	"github.com/canonical/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s"
-	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
 
@@ -45,22 +44,21 @@ func (c *NodeConfigurationController) Run(ctx context.Context) {
 }
 
 func (c *NodeConfigurationController) reconcile(ctx context.Context, configMap *v1.ConfigMap) error {
-	var nodeConfig types.NodeConfig
-	if err := mapstructure.Decode(configMap.Data, &nodeConfig); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode node config: %w", err)
-	}
+	nodeConfig := types.NodeConfigFromMap(configMap.Data)
 
 	kubeletUpdateMap := make(map[string]string)
 	var kubeletDeleteList []string
 
-	if nodeConfig.ClusterDNS != "" {
-		kubeletUpdateMap["--cluster-dns"] = nodeConfig.ClusterDNS
+	if nodeConfig.ClusterDNS != nil && *nodeConfig.ClusterDNS != "" {
+		kubeletUpdateMap["--cluster-dns"] = *nodeConfig.ClusterDNS
 	} else {
 		kubeletDeleteList = append(kubeletDeleteList, "--cluster-dns")
 	}
 
-	if nodeConfig.ClusterDomain != "" {
-		kubeletUpdateMap["--cluster-domain"] = nodeConfig.ClusterDomain
+	if nodeConfig.ClusterDomain != nil && *nodeConfig.ClusterDomain != "" {
+		kubeletUpdateMap["--cluster-domain"] = *nodeConfig.ClusterDomain
+	} else {
+		kubeletUpdateMap["--cluster-domain"] = "cluster.local"
 	}
 
 	mustRestartKubelet, err := snaputil.UpdateServiceArguments(c.snap, "kubelet", kubeletUpdateMap, kubeletDeleteList)
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/types/node_config.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/types/node_config.go
index 957abe2af..c5a12af94 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/types/node_config.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/types/node_config.go
@@ -1,7 +1,46 @@
 package types
 
 type NodeConfig struct {
-	CloudProvider string `mapstructure:"cloud-provider,omitempty"`
-	ClusterDNS    string `mapstructure:"cluster-dns,omitempty"`
-	ClusterDomain string `mapstructure:"cluster-domain,omitempty"`
+	CloudProvider *string
+	ClusterDNS    *string
+	ClusterDomain *string
+}
+
+func NodeConfigFromMap(data map[string]string) NodeConfig {
+	nodeConfig := NodeConfig{}
+
+	cloudProvider, ok := data["cloud-provider"]
+	if ok {
+		nodeConfig.CloudProvider = &cloudProvider
+	}
+
+	clusterDNS, ok := data["cluster-dns"]
+	if ok {
+		nodeConfig.ClusterDNS = &clusterDNS
+	}
+
+	clusterDomain, ok := data["cluster-domain"]
+	if ok {
+		nodeConfig.ClusterDomain = &clusterDomain
+	}
+
+	return nodeConfig
+}
+
+func MapFromNodeConfig(nodeConfig NodeConfig) map[string]string {
+	data := make(map[string]string)
+
+	if nodeConfig.CloudProvider != nil {
+		data["cloud-provider"] = *nodeConfig.CloudProvider
+	}
+
+	if nodeConfig.ClusterDNS != nil {
+		data["cluster-dns"] = *nodeConfig.ClusterDNS
+	}
+
+	if nodeConfig.ClusterDomain != nil {
+		data["cluster-domain"] = *nodeConfig.ClusterDomain
+	}
+
+	return data
 }
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/client.go b/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/client.go
index 94a25c6b7..5e761cb4b 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/client.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/client.go
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package k8s
 
 import (
-	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"time"
 
 	"k8s.io/cli-runtime/pkg/genericclioptions"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
@@ -25,20 +23,3 @@ func NewClient(restClientGetter genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter) (*Client, er
 	}
 	return &Client{clientset}, nil
 }
-
-func RetryNewClient(ctx context.Context, restClientGetter genericclioptions.RESTClientGetter) *Client {
-	for {
-		select {
-		case <-ctx.Done():
-			return nil
-		case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
-		default:
-		}
-
-		client, err := NewClient(restClientGetter)
-		if err != nil {
-			continue
-		}
-		return client
-	}
-}
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/configmap_test.go b/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/configmap_test.go
index 4b4a86db1..dcc11d515 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/configmap_test.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/utils/k8s/configmap_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ func TestWatchConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 		name      string
 		configmap *corev1.ConfigMap
 	}{
+		{
+			name:      "pass nil object",
+			configmap: nil,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "example configmap with values",
 			configmap: &corev1.ConfigMap{
@@ -40,10 +44,6 @@ func TestWatchConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 				Data:       map[string]string{},
 			},
 		},
-		{
-			name:      "pass nil object",
-			configmap: nil,
-		},
 	}
 
 	clientset := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@ func TestWatchConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 
 	client := &Client{Interface: clientset}
 
-	var receivedMaps []*corev1.ConfigMap
+	doneCh := make(chan *corev1.ConfigMap)
 
 	go client.WatchConfigMap(ctx, "kube-system", "test-config", func(configMap *corev1.ConfigMap) error {
-		receivedMaps = append(receivedMaps, configMap)
+		doneCh <- configMap
 		if configMap == nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("unexpected nil map test case error")
 		}
@@ -64,18 +64,22 @@ func TestWatchConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 
 	defer watcher.Stop()
 
-	for i, tc := range tests {
+	for _, tc := range tests {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			g := NewWithT(t)
 
 			watcher.Add(tc.configmap)
-			time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
-
-			if tc.configmap != nil {
-				g.Expect(receivedMaps[i].Data).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Data))
-				g.Expect(receivedMaps[i].Name).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Name))
-				g.Expect(receivedMaps[i].Namespace).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Namespace))
+			select {
+			case recv := <-doneCh:
+				if tc.configmap != nil {
+					g.Expect(recv.Data).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Data))
+					g.Expect(recv.Name).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Name))
+					g.Expect(recv.Namespace).To(Equal(tc.configmap.Namespace))
+				}
+			case <-time.After(time.Second):
+				t.Fatal("Timed out waiting for watch to complete")
 			}
+
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_config_propagation.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_config_propagation.py
index 7b01f61e2..1fb4ecf28 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_config_propagation.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_config_propagation.py
@@ -29,29 +29,12 @@ def test_config_propagation(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
     nodes = util.ready_nodes(initial_node)
     assert len(nodes) == 3, "all nodes should have joined cluster"
 
-    p = (
-        util.stubbornly(retries=5, delay_s=3)
-        .on(initial_node)
-        .until(lambda p: len(p.stdout.decode().replace("'", "")) > 0)
-        .exec(
-            [
-                "k8s",
-                "kubectl",
-                "get",
-                "service",
-                "coredns",
-                "-n",
-                "kube-system",
-                "-o=jsonpath='{.spec.clusterIP}'",
-            ],
-        )
-    )
-    service_ip = p.stdout.decode().replace("'", "")
+    initial_node.exec(["k8s", "set", "dns.cluster-domain=integration.local"])
 
     util.stubbornly(retries=5, delay_s=10).on(joining_cplane_node).until(
-        lambda p: f"--cluster-dns={service_ip}" in p.stdout.decode()
+        lambda p: f"--cluster-domain=integration.local" in p.stdout.decode()
     ).exec(["cat", "/var/snap/k8s/common/args/kubelet"])
 
     util.stubbornly(retries=5, delay_s=10).on(joining_worker_node).until(
-        lambda p: f"--cluster-dns={service_ip}" in p.stdout.decode()
+        lambda p: f"--cluster-domain=integration.local" in p.stdout.decode()
     ).exec(["cat", "/var/snap/k8s/common/args/kubelet"])