diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/containerd.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/containerd.go
index 2aba6b70c..662999870 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/containerd.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/containerd.go
@@ -91,6 +91,21 @@ func defaultContainerdConfig(
 // Containerd configures configuration and arguments for containerd on the local node.
 // Optionally, a number of registry mirrors and auths can be configured.
 func Containerd(snap snap.Snap, extraContainerdConfig map[string]any, extraArgs map[string]*string) error {
+	// We create the directories here since PreInitCheck is called before this
+	// This ensures we only create the directories if we are going to configure containerd
+	for _, dir := range []string{
+		snap.ContainerdConfigDir(),
+		snap.ContainerdExtraConfigDir(),
+		snap.ContainerdRegistryConfigDir(),
+	} {
+		if dir == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0o700); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create required directory: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	configToml := defaultContainerdConfig(
 		snap.CNIConfDir(),
 		snap.CNIBinDir(),
diff --git a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/directories.go b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/directories.go
index 73a06e0cf..41b289eb3 100644
--- a/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/directories.go
+++ b/src/k8s/pkg/k8sd/setup/directories.go
@@ -19,9 +19,6 @@ func EnsureAllDirectories(snap snap.Snap) error {
 
 	for _, dir := range []string{
 		snap.CNIConfDir(),
-		snap.ContainerdConfigDir(),
-		snap.ContainerdExtraConfigDir(),
-		snap.ContainerdRegistryConfigDir(),
 		snap.K8sDqliteStateDir(),
 		snap.KubernetesConfigDir(),
 		snap.KubernetesPKIDir(),
diff --git a/tests/integration/templates/bootstrap-fail.yaml b/tests/integration/templates/bootstrap-fail.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62abb6aa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/templates/bootstrap-fail.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Contains the bootstrap configuration for the smoke test.
+cluster-config:
+  network:
+    enabled: true
+  dns:
+    enabled: true
+  ingress:
+    enabled: true
+  load-balancer:
+    enabled: true
+  local-storage:
+    enabled: true
+  gateway:
+    enabled: true
+  metrics-server:
+    enabled: true
+extra-node-kube-apiserver-args:
+  --foo: bar
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_cleanup.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_cleanup.py
index 71f0853ab..f82dae1f5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_cleanup.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_cleanup.py
@@ -112,17 +112,14 @@ def test_node_cleanup_new_containerd_path(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.node_count(1)
-@pytest.mark.no_setup()
+@pytest.mark.disable_k8s_bootstrapping()
 @pytest.mark.tags(tags.NIGHTLY)
-def test_containerd_path_cleanup_on_failed_init(
-    instances: List[harness.Instance], tmp_path
-):
+def test_containerd_path_cleanup_on_failed_init(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
     """Tests that a failed `bootstrap` properly cleans up any
     containerd-related paths it may have created as part of the
     failed `bootstrap`.
 
-    It introduces a bootstrap failure by pre-creating the containerd socket
-    path before running `k8s-bootstrap`.
+    It introduces a bootstrap failure by supplying an incorrect argument to the kube-apiserver.
 
     The bootstrap/join-cluster aborting behavior was added in this PR:
     https://github.com/canonical/k8s-snap/pull/772
@@ -132,33 +129,19 @@ def test_containerd_path_cleanup_on_failed_init(
     """
     instance = instances[0]
     expected_code = 1
-    expected_message = "containerd socket already exists"
-
-    util.setup_k8s_snap(instance, tmp_path, config.SNAP, connect_interfaces=False)
 
-    # Pre-create the containerd socket directory in the test instance:
-    instance.exec(["mkdir", "-p", CONTAINERD_SOCKET_DIRECTORY_CLASSIC], check=True)
+    fail_bootstrap_config = (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "bootstrap-fail.yaml").read_text()
 
     proc = instance.exec(
-        ["k8s", "bootstrap"], capture_output=True, text=True, check=False
+        ["k8s", "bootstrap", "--file", "-"],
+        input=str.encode(fail_bootstrap_config),
+        check=False,
     )
 
     if proc.returncode != expected_code:
         raise AssertionError(
             f"Expected `k8s bootstrap` to exit with code {expected_code}, "
             f"but it exited with {proc.returncode}.\n"
-            f"Stdout was: \n{proc.stdout}.\nStderr was: \n{proc.stderr}"
-        )
-
-    if expected_message not in proc.stderr:
-        raise AssertionError(
-            f"Expected to find socket-related warning '{expected_message}' in "
-            "stderr of the `k8s bootstrap` command.\n"
-            f"Stdout was: \n{proc.stdout}.\nStderr was: \n{proc.stderr}"
         )
 
     _assert_paths_not_exist(instance, CONTAINERD_PATHS)
-
-    # Remove the directory and ensure the bootstrap succeeds:
-    instance.exec(["rmdir", CONTAINERD_SOCKET_DIRECTORY_CLASSIC], check=True)
-    instance.exec(["k8s", "bootstrap"])