diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/etcd/etcd.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/etcd/etcd.go
index f2f91ea8e22..e746c2012b5 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/etcd/etcd.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/etcd/etcd.go
@@ -584,6 +584,8 @@ func (c *Client) getMemberStatus(memberID uint64) (isLearner bool, started bool,
 func (c *Client) MemberPromote(learnerID uint64) error {
 	var (
 		lastError     error
+		isLearner     bool
+		isStarted     bool
 		learnerIDUint = strconv.FormatUint(learnerID, 16)
 	)
 
@@ -591,7 +593,8 @@ func (c *Client) MemberPromote(learnerID uint64) error {
 
 	err := wait.PollUntilContextTimeout(context.Background(), constants.EtcdAPICallRetryInterval, kubeadmapi.GetActiveTimeouts().EtcdAPICall.Duration,
 		true, func(_ context.Context) (bool, error) {
-			isLearner, started, err := c.getMemberStatus(learnerID)
+			var err error
+			isLearner, isStarted, err = c.getMemberStatus(learnerID)
 			if err != nil {
 				lastError = errors.WithMessagef(err, "failed to get member %s status", learnerIDUint)
 				return false, nil
@@ -600,7 +603,7 @@ func (c *Client) MemberPromote(learnerID uint64) error {
 				klog.V(1).Infof("[etcd] Member %s was already promoted.", learnerIDUint)
 				return true, nil
 			}
-			if !started {
+			if !isStarted {
 				klog.V(1).Infof("[etcd] Member %s is not started yet. Waiting for it to be started.", learnerIDUint)
 				lastError = errors.Errorf("the etcd member %s is not started", learnerIDUint)
 				return false, nil
@@ -611,6 +614,10 @@ func (c *Client) MemberPromote(learnerID uint64) error {
 		return lastError
 	}
 
+	if !isLearner {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	klog.V(1).Infof("[etcd] Promoting a learner as a voting member: %s", learnerIDUint)
 
 	cli, err := c.newEtcdClient(c.Endpoints)