diff --git a/hack/.golint_failures b/hack/.golint_failures
index 2dd3883d24f..6562fe7d245 100644
--- a/hack/.golint_failures
+++ b/hack/.golint_failures
@@ -177,7 +177,6 @@ pkg/kubectl/cmd/wait
 pkg/kubectl/metricsutil
 pkg/kubectl/util
 pkg/kubectl/util/slice
-pkg/kubelet
 pkg/kubelet/apis
 pkg/kubelet/apis/config
 pkg/kubelet/apis/config/v1beta1
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status.go
index 54f54f149ae..096dfd83060 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status.go
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) updateDefaultLabels(initialNode, existingNode *v1.Node) bool
 		kubeletapis.LabelArch,
 	}
 
-	var needsUpdate bool = false
+	needsUpdate := false
 	if existingNode.Labels == nil {
 		existingNode.Labels = make(map[string]string)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
index 1fed05dfb52..f86a72d3d5c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_pods.go
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ func makeMounts(pod *v1.Pod, podDir string, container *v1.Container, hostName, h
 	mountEtcHostsFile := len(podIP) > 0 && runtime.GOOS != "windows"
 	glog.V(3).Infof("container: %v/%v/%v podIP: %q creating hosts mount: %v", pod.Namespace, pod.Name, container.Name, podIP, mountEtcHostsFile)
 	mounts := []kubecontainer.Mount{}
-	var cleanupAction func() = nil
+	var cleanupAction func()
 	for i, mount := range container.VolumeMounts {
 		// do not mount /etc/hosts if container is already mounting on the path
 		mountEtcHostsFile = mountEtcHostsFile && (mount.MountPath != etcHostsPath)
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index 2b07e8a1750..6dc7c1754e1 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ func newTestKubeletWithImageList(
 		allPlugins = append(allPlugins, azure_dd.ProbeVolumePlugins()...)
 	}
 
-	var prober volume.DynamicPluginProber = nil // TODO (#51147) inject mock
+	var prober volume.DynamicPluginProber // TODO (#51147) inject mock
 	kubelet.volumePluginMgr, err =
 		NewInitializedVolumePluginMgr(kubelet, kubelet.secretManager, kubelet.configMapManager, token.NewManager(kubelet.kubeClient), allPlugins, prober)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to initialize VolumePluginMgr")
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/reason_cache.go b/pkg/kubelet/reason_cache.go
index 4c42ab8a7ce..60327baf954 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/reason_cache.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/reason_cache.go
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ type ReasonCache struct {
 	cache *lru.Cache
 }
 
-// Reason is the cached item in ReasonCache
-type reasonItem struct {
+// ReasonItem is the cached item in ReasonCache
+type ReasonItem struct {
 	Err     error
 	Message string
 }
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ func (c *ReasonCache) composeKey(uid types.UID, name string) string {
 func (c *ReasonCache) add(uid types.UID, name string, reason error, message string) {
 	c.lock.Lock()
 	defer c.lock.Unlock()
-	c.cache.Add(c.composeKey(uid, name), reasonItem{reason, message})
+	c.cache.Add(c.composeKey(uid, name), ReasonItem{reason, message})
 }
 
 // Update updates the reason cache with the SyncPodResult. Only SyncResult with
@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@ func (c *ReasonCache) Remove(uid types.UID, name string) {
 // Get gets error reason from the cache. The return values are error reason, error message and
 // whether an error reason is found in the cache. If no error reason is found, empty string will
 // be returned for error reason and error message.
-func (c *ReasonCache) Get(uid types.UID, name string) (*reasonItem, bool) {
+func (c *ReasonCache) Get(uid types.UID, name string) (*ReasonItem, bool) {
 	c.lock.Lock()
 	defer c.lock.Unlock()
 	value, ok := c.cache.Get(c.composeKey(uid, name))
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, false
 	}
-	info := value.(reasonItem)
+	info := value.(ReasonItem)
 	return &info, true
 }