diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index 81c46b7fb26..f069f6b08b9 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -741,10 +741,8 @@ func run(ctx context.Context, s *options.KubeletServer, kubeDeps *kubelet.Depend
 	}
 
 	// Get cgroup driver setting from CRI
-	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.KubeletCgroupDriverFromCRI) {
-		if err := getCgroupDriverFromCRI(ctx, s, kubeDeps); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	if err := getCgroupDriverFromCRI(ctx, s, kubeDeps); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	var cgroupRoots []string
@@ -1399,7 +1397,7 @@ func getCgroupDriverFromCRI(ctx context.Context, s *options.KubeletServer, kubeD
 			// CRI implementation doesn't support RuntimeConfig, fallback
 			legacyregistry.MustRegister(kubeletmetrics.CRILosingSupport)
 			kubeletmetrics.CRILosingSupport.WithLabelValues("1.36.0").Inc()
-			logger.Info("CRI implementation should be updated to support RuntimeConfig when KubeletCgroupDriverFromCRI feature gate has been enabled. Falling back to using cgroupDriver from kubelet config.")
+			logger.Info("CRI implementation should be updated to support RuntimeConfig. Falling back to using cgroupDriver from kubelet config.")
 			return nil
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index 788eee524ca..0ec6df2fb7d 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -1301,6 +1301,7 @@ var defaultVersionedKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate
 	KubeletCgroupDriverFromCRI: {
 		{Version: version.MustParse("1.28"), Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
 		{Version: version.MustParse("1.31"), Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
+		{Version: version.MustParse("1.34"), Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.GA, LockToDefault: true}, // remove in 1.37
 	},
 
 	KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax: {
diff --git a/test/compatibility_lifecycle/reference/versioned_feature_list.yaml b/test/compatibility_lifecycle/reference/versioned_feature_list.yaml
index 0ffd3beee2a..011a1594672 100644
--- a/test/compatibility_lifecycle/reference/versioned_feature_list.yaml
+++ b/test/compatibility_lifecycle/reference/versioned_feature_list.yaml
@@ -713,6 +713,10 @@
     lockToDefault: false
     preRelease: Beta
     version: "1.31"
+  - default: true
+    lockToDefault: true
+    preRelease: GA
+    version: "1.34"
 - name: KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax
   versionedSpecs:
   - default: false