diff --git a/kinder/ci/tools/update-workflows/templates/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml b/kinder/ci/tools/update-workflows/templates/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
index 045472b7..48d37590 100644
--- a/kinder/ci/tools/update-workflows/templates/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
+++ b/kinder/ci/tools/update-workflows/templates/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
@@ -49,16 +49,28 @@ tasks:
     - --worker-nodes={{ .vars.workerNodes }}
     - --loglevel=debug
   timeout: 5m
-- name: init-dryrun
+- name: dryrun-without-cluster
   description: |
-    Initializes the Kubernetes cluster in dryrun mode
+    Run kubeadm commands in dryrun mode without a real cluster
   cmd: /bin/bash
   args:
     - -c
     - |
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 bash -c "until crictl ps &> /dev/null; do echo 'Waiting for the container runtime to be running ...'; sleep 1; done"
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --upload-certs=true --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      required_version="1.32" # dryrun without cluster is available since v1.32
+      current_version=$(echo "{{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }}" | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+')
+      if awk "BEGIN {exit !($current_version < $required_version)}"; then
+        echo "Full dryrun support without cluster is not available for Kubernetes version {{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }}, only init-dryrun will be executed for this task."
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 bash -c "until crictl ps &> /dev/null; do echo 'Waiting for the container runtime to be running ...'; sleep 1; done"
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      else
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 bash -c "until crictl ps &> /dev/null; do echo 'Waiting for the container runtime to be running ...'; sleep 1; done"
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm join 192.168.0.101:6443 --control-plane --token abcdef.abcdef0123456789 --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash sha256:3b793efefe27a19f93b0fbe6e637e9c41d0dde8a377d6ab1c0f656bf1136dd8a --certificate-key 2e3c4239bc78c27f40530ddc2df7049a2c5ff146e5a702e9c9b6cdbec70df9f3 --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm join 192.168.0.101:6443 --token abcdef.abcdef0123456789 --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash sha256:3b793efefe27a19f93b0fbe6e637e9c41d0dde8a377d6ab1c0f656bf1136dd8a --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade apply -f {{ .vars.upgradeVersion }} --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --allow-release-candidate-upgrades=true --allow-experimental-upgrades=true --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade node --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+        docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm reset --force=true --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      fi
   timeout: 5m
 - name: init
   description: |
@@ -80,7 +92,7 @@ tasks:
     - -c
     - |
       docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 bash -c "until crictl ps &> /dev/null; do echo 'Waiting for the container runtime to be running ...'; sleep 1; done"
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 $(docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm token create --print-join-command) --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 $(docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm token create --print-join-command) --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
   timeout: 10m
 - name: join
   description: |
@@ -100,8 +112,8 @@ tasks:
   args:
     - -c
     - |
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade apply -f {{ .vars.upgradeVersion }} --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --allow-release-candidate-upgrades=true --allow-experimental-upgrades=true --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade node --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade apply -f {{ .vars.upgradeVersion }} --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --allow-release-candidate-upgrades=true --allow-experimental-upgrades=true --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 /kinder/upgrade/{{ .vars.upgradeVersion }}/kubeadm upgrade node --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
 - name: reset-dryrun
   description: |
     Exec kubeadm reset in dryrun mode
@@ -109,8 +121,8 @@ tasks:
   args:
     - -c
     - |
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm reset --force=true --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
-      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 kubeadm reset --force=true --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm reset --force=true --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 kubeadm reset --force=true --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
   force: true
 - name: reset
   description: |
diff --git a/kinder/ci/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml b/kinder/ci/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
index 60573a57..bd9a67ec 100644
--- a/kinder/ci/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
+++ b/kinder/ci/workflows/dryrun-tasks.yaml
@@ -61,6 +61,22 @@ tasks:
       docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
       docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-control-plane-1 kubeadm init --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --kubernetes-version={{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }} --upload-certs=true --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
   timeout: 5m
+- name: join-dryrun-without-real-control-plane
+  description: |
+    Join the other nodes to the Kubernetes cluster in dryrun mode without a real control plane
+  cmd: /bin/bash
+  args:
+    - -c
+    - |
+      required_version="1.32" # join dry-run without real control plane is available since v1.32
+      current_version=$(echo "{{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }}" | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+')
+      if awk "BEGIN {exit !($current_version < $required_version)}"; then
+        echo "Join dry-run without real control plane is not available for Kubernetes version {{ .vars.kubernetesVersion }}. Skipping."
+        exit 0
+      fi
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 bash -c "until crictl ps &> /dev/null; do echo 'Waiting for the container runtime to be running ...'; sleep 1; done"
+      docker exec {{ .vars.clusterName }}-worker-1 kubeadm join 192.168.0.101:6443 --token abcdef.abcdef0123456789 --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash sha256:3b793efefe27a19f93b0fbe6e637e9c41d0dde8a377d6ab1c0f656bf1136dd8a --ignore-preflight-errors={{ .vars.kubeadmIgnorePreflightErrors }} --dry-run=true --v={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }} || exit 1
+  timeout: 5m
 - name: init
   description: |
     Initializes the Kubernetes cluster with version "initVersion"
@@ -73,9 +89,9 @@ tasks:
     - --loglevel=debug
     - --kubeadm-verbosity={{ .vars.kubeadmVerbosity }}
   timeout: 5m
-- name: join-dryrun
+- name: join-dryrun-against-real-control-plane
   description: |
-    Join the other nodes to the Kubernetes cluster in dryrun mode
+    Join the other nodes to the Kubernetes cluster in dryrun mode against the real control plane
   cmd: /bin/bash
   args:
     - -c