diff --git a/src/common/__tests__/cluster-store.test.ts b/src/common/__tests__/cluster-store.test.ts
index ec8e244fd2..b37d4d2b3b 100644
--- a/src/common/__tests__/cluster-store.test.ts
+++ b/src/common/__tests__/cluster-store.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import mockFs from "mock-fs";
 import yaml from "js-yaml";
 import { Cluster } from "../../main/cluster";
 import { ClusterStore, getClusterIdFromHost } from "../cluster-store";
+import { Console } from "console";
+
+console = new Console(process.stdout, process.stderr); // fix mockFS
 
 const testDataIcon = fs.readFileSync("test-data/cluster-store-migration-icon.png");
 const kubeconfig = `
@@ -292,6 +295,13 @@ users:
   });
 });
 
+const minimalValidKubeConfig = JSON.stringify({
+  apiVersion: "v1",
+  clusters: [],
+  users: [],
+  contexts: [],
+});
+
 describe("pre 2.0 config with an existing cluster", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     ClusterStore.resetInstance();
@@ -303,7 +313,7 @@ describe("pre 2.0 config with an existing cluster", () => {
               version: "1.0.0"
             }
           },
-          cluster1: "kubeconfig content"
+          cluster1: minimalValidKubeConfig,
         })
       }
     };
@@ -321,7 +331,7 @@ describe("pre 2.0 config with an existing cluster", () => {
   it("migrates to modern format with kubeconfig in a file", async () => {
     const config = clusterStore.clustersList[0].kubeConfigPath;
 
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(config, "utf8")).toBe("kubeconfig content");
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(config, "utf8")).toContain(`"contexts":[]`);
   });
 });
 
@@ -375,7 +385,7 @@ describe("pre 2.6.0 config with a cluster icon", () => {
             }
           },
           cluster1: {
-            kubeConfig: "foo",
+            kubeConfig: minimalValidKubeConfig,
             icon: "icon_path",
             preferences: {
               terminalCWD: "/tmp"
@@ -417,7 +427,7 @@ describe("for a pre 2.7.0-beta.0 config without a workspace", () => {
             }
           },
           cluster1: {
-            kubeConfig: "foo",
+            kubeConfig: minimalValidKubeConfig,
             preferences: {
               terminalCWD: "/tmp"
             }
@@ -451,7 +461,7 @@ describe("pre 3.6.0-beta.1 config with an existing cluster", () => {
           clusters: [
             {
               id: "cluster1",
-              kubeConfig: "kubeconfig content",
+              kubeConfig: minimalValidKubeConfig,
               contextName: "cluster",
               preferences: {
                 icon: "store://icon_path",
@@ -476,7 +486,7 @@ describe("pre 3.6.0-beta.1 config with an existing cluster", () => {
   it("migrates to modern format with kubeconfig in a file", async () => {
     const config = clusterStore.clustersList[0].kubeConfigPath;
 
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(config, "utf8")).toBe("kubeconfig content");
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(config, "utf8")).toBe(minimalValidKubeConfig);
   });
 
   it("migrates to modern format with icon not in file", async () => {
diff --git a/src/common/__tests__/kube-helpers.test.ts b/src/common/__tests__/kube-helpers.test.ts
index a782772d34..ddecc6bde8 100644
--- a/src/common/__tests__/kube-helpers.test.ts
+++ b/src/common/__tests__/kube-helpers.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { KubeConfig } from "@kubernetes/client-node";
-import { validateKubeConfig } from "../kube-helpers";
+import { validateKubeConfig, loadConfig } from "../kube-helpers";
 
 const kubeconfig = `
 apiVersion: v1
@@ -40,61 +40,214 @@ users:
 
 const kc = new KubeConfig();
 
-describe("validateKubeconfig", () => {
-  beforeAll(() => {
-    kc.loadFromString(kubeconfig);
-  });
-  describe("with default validation options", () => {
-    describe("with valid kubeconfig", () => {
-      it("does not raise exceptions", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "valid");}).not.toThrow();
-      });
+interface kubeconfig {
+  apiVersion: string,
+  clusters: [{
+    name: string,
+    cluster: {
+      server: string
+    }
+  }],
+  contexts: [{
+    context: {
+      cluster: string,
+      user: string,
+    },
+    name: string
+  }],
+  users: [{
+    name: string
+  }],
+  kind: string,
+  "current-context": string,
+  preferences: {}
+}
+
+let mockKubeConfig: kubeconfig;
+
+describe("kube helpers", () => {
+  describe("validateKubeconfig", () => {
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      kc.loadFromString(kubeconfig);
     });
-    describe("with invalid context object", () => {
-      it("it raises exception", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalid");}).toThrow("No valid context object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalid'");
+    describe("with default validation options", () => {
+      describe("with valid kubeconfig", () => {
+        it("does not raise exceptions", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "valid");}).not.toThrow();
+        });
+      });
+      describe("with invalid context object", () => {
+        it("it raises exception", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalid");}).toThrow("No valid context object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalid'");
+        });
+      });
+
+      describe("with invalid cluster object", () => {
+        it("it raises exception", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidCluster");}).toThrow("No valid cluster object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalidCluster'");
+        });
+      });
+
+      describe("with invalid user object", () => {
+        it("it raises exception", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidUser");}).toThrow("No valid user object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalidUser'");
+        });
+      });
+
+      describe("with invalid exec command", () => {
+        it("it raises exception", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidExec");}).toThrow("User Exec command \"foo\" not found on host. Please ensure binary is found in PATH or use absolute path to binary in Kubeconfig");
+        });
       });
     });
 
-    describe("with invalid cluster object", () => {
-      it("it raises exception", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidCluster");}).toThrow("No valid cluster object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalidCluster'");
+    describe("with validateCluster as false", () => {
+      describe("with invalid cluster object", () => {
+        it("does not raise exception", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidCluster", { validateCluster: false });}).not.toThrow();
+        });
       });
     });
 
-    describe("with invalid user object", () => {
-      it("it raises exception", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidUser");}).toThrow("No valid user object provided in kubeconfig for context 'invalidUser'");
+    describe("with validateUser as false", () => {
+      describe("with invalid user object", () => {
+        it("does not raise exceptions", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidUser", { validateUser: false });}).not.toThrow();
+        });
       });
     });
 
-    describe("with invalid exec command", () => {
-      it("it raises exception", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidExec");}).toThrow("User Exec command \"foo\" not found on host. Please ensure binary is found in PATH or use absolute path to binary in Kubeconfig");
+    describe("with validateExec as false", () => {
+      describe("with invalid exec object", () => {
+        it("does not raise exceptions", () => {
+          expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidExec", { validateExec: false });}).not.toThrow();
+        });
       });
     });
   });
 
-  describe("with validateCluster as false", () => {
-    describe("with invalid cluster object", () => {
-      it("does not raise exception", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidCluster", { validateCluster: false });}).not.toThrow();
+  describe("pre-validate context object in kubeconfig tests", () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      jest.clearAllMocks();
+    });
+
+    describe("Check logger.error() output", () => {
+      it("invalid yaml string", () => {
+        const invalidYAMLString = "fancy foo config";
+
+        expect(() => loadConfig(invalidYAMLString)).toThrowError("must be an object");
+      });
+      it("empty contexts", () => {
+        const emptyContexts = `apiVersion: v1\ncontexts:`;
+
+        expect(() => loadConfig(emptyContexts)).not.toThrow();
       });
     });
-  });
 
-  describe("with validateUser as false", () => {
-    describe("with invalid user object", () => {
-      it("does not raise excpetions", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidUser", { validateUser: false });}).not.toThrow();
+    describe("Check valid kubeconfigs", () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        mockKubeConfig = {
+          apiVersion: "v1",
+          clusters: [{
+            name: "minikube",
+            cluster: {
+              server: "https://192.168.64.3:8443",
+            },
+          }],
+          contexts: [{
+            context: {
+              cluster: "minikube",
+              user: "minikube",
+            },
+            name: "minikube",
+          }],
+          users: [{
+            name: "minikube",
+          }],
+          kind: "Config",
+          "current-context": "minikube",
+          preferences: {},
+        };
+      });
+
+      it("single context is ok", async () => {
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+      });
+
+      it("multiple context is ok", async () => {
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "cluster-2", user: "cluster-2"}, name: "cluster-2"});
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts.length).toBe(2);
       });
     });
-  });
 
-  describe("with validateExec as false", () => {
-    describe("with invalid exec object", () => {
-      it("does not raise excpetions", () => {
-        expect(() => { validateKubeConfig(kc, "invalidExec", { validateExec: false });}).not.toThrow();
+    describe("Check invalid kubeconfigs", () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        mockKubeConfig = {
+          apiVersion: "v1",
+          clusters: [{
+            name: "minikube",
+            cluster: {
+              server: "https://192.168.64.3:8443",
+            },
+          }],
+          contexts: [{
+            context: {
+              cluster: "minikube",
+              user: "minikube",
+            },
+            name: "minikube",
+          }],
+          users: [{
+            name: "minikube",
+          }],
+          kind: "Config",
+          "current-context": "minikube",
+          preferences: {},
+        };
+      });
+
+      it("empty name in context causes it to be removed", async () => {
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "cluster-2", user: "cluster-2"}, name: ""});
+        expect(mockKubeConfig.contexts.length).toBe(2);
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts.length).toBe(1);
+      });
+
+      it("empty cluster in context causes it to be removed", async () => {
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "", user: "cluster-2"}, name: "cluster-2"});
+        expect(mockKubeConfig.contexts.length).toBe(2);
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts.length).toBe(1);
+      });
+
+      it("empty user in context causes it to be removed", async () => {
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "cluster-2", user: ""}, name: "cluster-2"});
+        expect(mockKubeConfig.contexts.length).toBe(2);
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts.length).toBe(1);
+      });
+
+      it("invalid context in between valid contexts is removed", async () => {
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "cluster-2", user: ""}, name: "cluster-2"});
+        mockKubeConfig.contexts.push({context: {cluster: "cluster-3", user: "cluster-3"}, name: "cluster-3"});
+        expect(mockKubeConfig.contexts.length).toBe(3);
+        const kc:KubeConfig = loadConfig(JSON.stringify(mockKubeConfig));
+
+        expect(kc.getCurrentContext()).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts.length).toBe(2);
+        expect(kc.contexts[0].name).toBe("minikube");
+        expect(kc.contexts[1].name).toBe("cluster-3");
       });
     });
   });
diff --git a/src/common/kube-helpers.ts b/src/common/kube-helpers.ts
index c2a2a8df93..fb4691fedb 100644
--- a/src/common/kube-helpers.ts
+++ b/src/common/kube-helpers.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import yaml from "js-yaml";
 import logger from "../main/logger";
 import commandExists from "command-exists";
 import { ExecValidationNotFoundError } from "./custom-errors";
+import { newClusters, newContexts, newUsers } from "@kubernetes/client-node/dist/config_types";
 
 export type KubeConfigValidationOpts = {
   validateCluster?: boolean;
@@ -23,14 +24,36 @@ function resolveTilde(filePath: string) {
   return filePath;
 }
 
+function readResolvedPathSync(filePath: string): string {
+  return fse.readFileSync(path.resolve(resolveTilde(filePath)), "utf8");
+}
+
+function checkRawContext(rawContext: any): boolean {
+  return rawContext.name && rawContext.context?.cluster && rawContext.context?.user;
+}
+
+function loadToOptions(rawYaml: string): any {
+  const obj = yaml.safeLoad(rawYaml);
+
+  if (typeof obj !== "object" || !obj) {
+    throw new TypeError("KubeConfig root entry must be an object");
+  }
+
+  const { clusters: rawClusters, users: rawUsers, contexts: rawContexts, "current-context": currentContext } = obj;
+  const clusters = newClusters(rawClusters);
+  const users = newUsers(rawUsers);
+  const contexts = newContexts(rawContexts?.filter(checkRawContext));
+
+  return { clusters, users, contexts, currentContext };
+}
+
 export function loadConfig(pathOrContent?: string): KubeConfig {
+  const content = fse.pathExistsSync(pathOrContent) ? readResolvedPathSync(pathOrContent) : pathOrContent;
+  const options = loadToOptions(content);
   const kc = new KubeConfig();
 
-  if (fse.pathExistsSync(pathOrContent)) {
-    kc.loadFromFile(path.resolve(resolveTilde(pathOrContent)));
-  } else {
-    kc.loadFromString(pathOrContent);
-  }
+  // need to load using the kubernetes client to generate a kubeconfig object
+  kc.loadFromOptions(options);
 
   return kc;
 }
@@ -146,7 +169,7 @@ export function podHasIssues(pod: V1Pod) {
   return (
     notReady ||
     pod.status.phase !== "Running" ||
-    pod.spec.priority > 500000 // We're interested in high prio pods events regardless of their running status
+    pod.spec.priority > 500000 // We're interested in high priority pods events regardless of their running status
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/src/common/user-store.ts b/src/common/user-store.ts
index c7ad21f988..ee5ece17d5 100644
--- a/src/common/user-store.ts
+++ b/src/common/user-store.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { ThemeId } from "../renderer/theme.store";
 import { app, remote } from "electron";
 import semver from "semver";
 import { readFile } from "fs-extra";
-import { action, observable, reaction, toJS } from "mobx";
+import { action, computed, observable, reaction, toJS } from "mobx";
 import { BaseStore } from "./base-store";
 import migrations from "../migrations/user-store";
 import { getAppVersion } from "./utils/app-version";
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ export class UserStore extends BaseStore<UserStoreModel> {
     this.kubeConfigPath = kubeConfigDefaultPath;
   }
 
+  @computed get isDefaultKubeConfigPath(): boolean {
+    return this.kubeConfigPath === kubeConfigDefaultPath;
+  }
+
   @action
   async resetTheme() {
     await this.whenLoaded;
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+add-cluster/add-cluster.tsx b/src/renderer/components/+add-cluster/add-cluster.tsx
index b9392e2b95..94980a4d15 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+add-cluster/add-cluster.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+add-cluster/add-cluster.tsx
@@ -62,9 +62,11 @@ export class AddCluster extends React.Component {
       this.kubeConfigPath = filePath;
       userStore.kubeConfigPath = filePath; // save to store
     } catch (err) {
-      Notifications.error(
-        <div>Can&apos;t setup <code>{filePath}</code> as kubeconfig: {String(err)}</div>
-      );
+      if (!userStore.isDefaultKubeConfigPath) {
+        Notifications.error(
+          <div>Can&apos;t setup <code>{filePath}</code> as kubeconfig: {String(err)}</div>
+        );
+      }
 
       if (throwError) {
         throw err;