diff --git a/hack/jenkins/common.ps1 b/hack/jenkins/common.ps1
index e54e6b3dc9b8..da1201176f34 100644
--- a/hack/jenkins/common.ps1
+++ b/hack/jenkins/common.ps1
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ function Write-GithubStatus {
 
 $env:SHORT_COMMIT=$env:COMMIT.substring(0, 7)
 $gcs_bucket="minikube-builds/logs/$env:MINIKUBE_LOCATION/$env:ROOT_JOB_ID"
-$env:MINIKUBE_SUPPRESS_DOCKER_PERFORMANCE=true
+$env:MINIKUBE_SUPPRESS_DOCKER_PERFORMANCE="true"
 
 # Docker's kubectl breaks things, and comes earlier in the path than the regular kubectl. So download the expected kubectl and replace Docker's version.
 (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.20.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubectl.exe", "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\kubectl.exe")
diff --git a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/cli_runner.go b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/cli_runner.go
index cebf4f6afcbb..9294eaeb5995 100644
--- a/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/cli_runner.go
+++ b/pkg/drivers/kic/oci/cli_runner.go
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ func PrefixCmd(cmd *exec.Cmd) *exec.Cmd {
 func suppressDockerMessage() bool {
 	envKey := "MINIKUBE_SUPPRESS_DOCKER_PERFORMANCE"
 	env := os.Getenv(envKey)
+	if env == "" {
+		return false
+	}
 	suppress, err := strconv.ParseBool(env)
 	if err != nil {
 		msg := fmt.Sprintf("failed to parse bool from the %s env, defaulting to 'false'; received: %s: %v", envKey, env, err)