diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index fb7102f8..d4031cf4 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func CreateCluster(ctx context.Context, cluster *k3d.Cluster, runtime k3drt.Runt
 	 */
 
 	// Worker defaults (per cluster)
-	// connection url
+	// connection url is always the name of the first master node (index 0)
 	connectionURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://%s:%s", generateNodeName(cluster.Name, k3d.MasterRole, 0), k3d.DefaultAPIPort)
 
 	nodeSetup := func(node *k3d.Node, suffix int) error {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func CreateCluster(ctx context.Context, cluster *k3d.Cluster, runtime k3drt.Runt
 
 			// the cluster has an init master node, but its not this one, so connect it to the init node
 			if cluster.InitNode != nil && !node.MasterOpts.IsInit {
-				node.Args = append(node.Args, "--server", fmt.Sprintf("https://%s:%s", cluster.InitNode.Name, k3d.DefaultAPIPort))
+				node.Env = append(node.Env, fmt.Sprintf("K3S_URL=%s", connectionURL))
 			}
 
 		} else if node.Role == k3d.WorkerRole {
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/node.go b/pkg/cluster/node.go
index 9ce2443b..010396f8 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/node.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/node.go
@@ -170,7 +170,9 @@ func DeleteNode(runtime runtimes.Runtime, node *k3d.Node) error {
 
 // patchWorkerSpec adds worker node specific settings to a node
 func patchWorkerSpec(node *k3d.Node) error {
-	node.Args = append([]string{"agent"}, node.Args...)
+	if node.Cmd == nil {
+		node.Cmd = []string{"agent"}
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -178,7 +180,9 @@ func patchWorkerSpec(node *k3d.Node) error {
 func patchMasterSpec(node *k3d.Node) error {
 
 	// command / arguments
-	node.Args = append([]string{"server"}, node.Args...)
+	if node.Cmd == nil {
+		node.Cmd = []string{"server"}
+	}
 
 	// Add labels and TLS SAN for the exposed API
 	// FIXME: For now, the labels concerning the API on the master nodes are only being used for configuring the kubeconfig