diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
index 0128b1a8fdbd..695b5ccf89eb 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/root.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	goflag "flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -73,6 +74,11 @@ var RootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 // Execute adds all child commands to the root command sets flags appropriately.
 // This is called by main.main(). It only needs to happen once to the rootCmd.
 func Execute() {
+	_, callingCmd := filepath.Split(os.Args[0])
+
+	if callingCmd == "kubectl" {
+		os.Args = append([]string{RootCmd.Use, callingCmd}, os.Args[1:]...)
+	}
 	for _, c := range RootCmd.Commands() {
 		c.Short = translate.T(c.Short)
 		c.Long = translate.T(c.Long)
diff --git a/site/content/en/docs/faq/_index.md b/site/content/en/docs/faq/_index.md
index 0eb2a1b28837..0539c92f2873 100644
--- a/site/content/en/docs/faq/_index.md
+++ b/site/content/en/docs/faq/_index.md
@@ -29,3 +29,8 @@ minikube's bootstrapper, [Kubeadm](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubeadm) verifi
 Please allocate sufficient resources for Knative setup using minikube, especially when you run a minikube cluster on your local machine. We recommend allocating at least 6 CPUs and 8G memory.
 
 `minikube start --cpus 6 --memory 8000`
+
+## Do I need to install kubectl locally?
+
+No, minikube comes with built-in kubectl [see minikube's kubectl documentation]({{< ref "docs/handbook/kubectl.md" >}}). 
+
diff --git a/site/content/en/docs/handbook/kubectl.md b/site/content/en/docs/handbook/kubectl.md
index 5f21ff4f206a..21532287d37c 100644
--- a/site/content/en/docs/handbook/kubectl.md
+++ b/site/content/en/docs/handbook/kubectl.md
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ as well.
 
 You can also `alias kubectl="minikube kubectl --"` for easier usage.
 
+Alternatively, you can create a symbolic link to minikube's binary named 'kubectl'.
+
+`ln -s $(which minikube) /usr/local/bin/kubectl`
+
 Get pods
 
 `minikube kubectl -- get pods`
diff --git a/test/integration/functional_test.go b/test/integration/functional_test.go
index e2a82a726a0a..a85e1b4e1b0f 100644
--- a/test/integration/functional_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/functional_test.go
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ func TestFunctional(t *testing.T) {
 			{"KubectlGetPods", validateKubectlGetPods},      // Make sure apiserver is up
 			{"CacheCmd", validateCacheCmd},                  // Caches images needed for subsequent tests because of proxy
 			{"MinikubeKubectlCmd", validateMinikubeKubectl}, // Make sure `minikube kubectl` works
+			{"MinikubeKubectlCmdDirectly", validateMinikubeKubectlDirectCall},
 		}
 		for _, tc := range tests {
 			tc := tc
@@ -307,6 +308,26 @@ func validateMinikubeKubectl(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string)
 	}
 }
 
+// validateMinikubeKubectlDirectCall validates that calling minikube's kubectl
+func validateMinikubeKubectlDirectCall(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {
+	defer PostMortemLogs(t, profile)
+	dir := filepath.Dir(Target())
+	dstfn := filepath.Join(dir, "kubectl")
+	err := os.Link(Target(), dstfn)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(dstfn) // clean up
+
+	kubectlArgs := []string{"get", "pods"}
+	rr, err := Run(t, exec.CommandContext(ctx, dstfn, kubectlArgs...))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to run kubectl directl. args %q: %v", rr.Command(), err)
+	}
+
+}
+
 // validateComponentHealth asserts that all Kubernetes components are healthy
 func validateComponentHealth(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, profile string) {
 	defer PostMortemLogs(t, profile)