diff --git a/api/v1beta1/machine_types.go b/api/v1beta1/machine_types.go
index fccc584fe5a4..94b840ef07a0 100644
--- a/api/v1beta1/machine_types.go
+++ b/api/v1beta1/machine_types.go
@@ -66,10 +66,10 @@ const (
 	// * KCP adds its own pre-terminate hook on all Machines it controls. This is done to ensure it can later remove
 	//   the etcd member right before Machine termination (i.e. before InfraMachine deletion).
 	// * Starting with Kubernetes v1.31 the KCP pre-terminate hook will wait for all other pre-terminate hooks to finish to
-	//   ensure it runs last (thus ensuring that kubelet is still working while other pre-terminate hooks run). This is only done
-	//   for v1.31 or above because the kubeadm ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode was introduced with kubeadm 1.31. This feature configures
-	//   the kubelet to communicate with the local apiserver. Only because of that the kubelet immediately starts failing after the etcd
-	//   member is removed. We need the ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode feature with 1.31 to adhere to the kubelet skew policy.
+	//   ensure it runs last (thus ensuring that kubelet is still working while other pre-terminate hooks run). This is done
+	//   for v1.31 or above because the kubeadm ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode was introduced with kubeadm 1.31 (graduated to GA in 1.36).
+	//   This feature configures the kubelet to communicate with the local apiserver. Only because of that the kubelet immediately
+	//   starts failing after the etcd member is removed. We need the ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode feature with 1.31+ to adhere to the kubelet skew policy.
 	PreTerminateDeleteHookAnnotationPrefix = "pre-terminate.delete.hook.machine.cluster.x-k8s.io"
 
 	// MachineCertificatesExpiryDateAnnotation annotation specifies the expiry date of the machine certificates in RFC3339 format.
diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster.go
index 048df78ff59f..3cfc0067a552 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster.go
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ var (
 	// the spec.clusterIP field selector that is only implemented in kube-apiserver >= 1.31.0).
 	minKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode = semver.MustParse("1.31.0")
 
+	// droppedKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode is the version from which
+	// we will drop the ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode kubeadm feature gate.
+	// Starting with Kubernetes 1.36, this feature graduated to GA and the feature gate
+	// is no longer needed (and will be removed in future K8s versions).
+	droppedKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode = semver.MustParse("1.36.0")
+
 	// ErrControlPlaneMinNodes signals that a cluster doesn't meet the minimum required nodes
 	// to remove an etcd member.
 	ErrControlPlaneMinNodes = errors.New("cluster has fewer than 2 control plane nodes; removing an etcd member is not supported")
@@ -199,7 +205,10 @@ const (
 
 // DefaultFeatureGates defaults the feature gates field.
 func DefaultFeatureGates(kubeadmConfigSpec *bootstrapv1.KubeadmConfigSpec, kubernetesVersion semver.Version) {
-	if kubernetesVersion.LT(minKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode) {
+	// Only set ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode for Kubernetes versions 1.31 <= version < 1.36
+	// For K8s < 1.31: feature gate doesn't exist
+	// For K8s >= 1.36: feature graduated to GA and gate does not exist anymore
+	if kubernetesVersion.LT(minKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode) || kubernetesVersion.GTE(droppedKubernetesVersionControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode) {
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster_test.go b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster_test.go
index 7ff30cbd0da6..2532544f3f0b 100644
--- a/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster_test.go
+++ b/controlplane/kubeadm/internal/workload_cluster_test.go
@@ -1261,6 +1261,36 @@ func TestUpdateFeatureGatesInKubeadmConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "it should not add ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode feature gate for 1.36.0 (GA)",
+			clusterConfigurationData: utilyaml.Raw(`
+				apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta4
+				kind: ClusterConfiguration`),
+			kubernetesVersion: semver.MustParse("1.36.0"),
+			newClusterConfiguration: &bootstrapv1.ClusterConfiguration{
+				FeatureGates: nil,
+			},
+			wantClusterConfiguration: &bootstrapv1.ClusterConfiguration{
+				FeatureGates: nil,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "it should not add ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode feature gate for 1.36.0 even with other feature gates",
+			clusterConfigurationData: utilyaml.Raw(`
+				apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta4
+				kind: ClusterConfiguration`),
+			kubernetesVersion: semver.MustParse("1.36.0"),
+			newClusterConfiguration: &bootstrapv1.ClusterConfiguration{
+				FeatureGates: map[string]bool{
+					"EtcdLearnerMode": true,
+				},
+			},
+			wantClusterConfiguration: &bootstrapv1.ClusterConfiguration{
+				FeatureGates: map[string]bool{
+					"EtcdLearnerMode": true,
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/docs/book/src/reference/versions.md b/docs/book/src/reference/versions.md
index bf4890c2988a..178eea9838ac 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/reference/versions.md
+++ b/docs/book/src/reference/versions.md
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@ The Kubeadm Control Plane requires the Kubeadm Bootstrap Provider.
 
 #### Kubernetes version specific notes
 
+**1.36**:
+
+* Kubeadm Bootstrap provider:
+  * The `ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode` feature gate graduated to GA and is enabled by default. CAPI will no longer set this feature gate explicitly for Kubernetes 1.36+. For Kubernetes versions 1.31-1.35, CAPI continues to set it automatically to ensure kubelet continues working during control plane upgrades.
+
 **1.31**:
 
 * All providers:
diff --git a/test/e2e/kcp_adoption.go b/test/e2e/kcp_adoption.go
index 932abb5fc317..4ab7f7af8f9e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/kcp_adoption.go
+++ b/test/e2e/kcp_adoption.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package e2e
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/blang/semver/v4"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/test/framework"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/test/framework/clusterctl"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/version"
 )
 
 // KCPAdoptionSpecInput is the input for KCPAdoptionSpec.
@@ -142,6 +145,12 @@ func KCPAdoptionSpec(ctx context.Context, inputGetter func() KCPAdoptionSpecInpu
 		})
 		Expect(workloadClusterTemplate).ToNot(BeNil(), "Failed to get the cluster template")
 
+		v, err := semver.ParseTolerant(input.E2EConfig.GetVariable(KubernetesVersion))
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		if version.Compare(v, semver.MustParse("1.36.0"), version.WithoutPreReleases()) >= 0 {
+			workloadClusterTemplate = bytes.Replace(workloadClusterTemplate, []byte("featureGates:\n      ControlPlaneKubeletLocalMode: true"), []byte(""), 1)
+		}
+
 		By("Applying the cluster template yaml to the cluster with the 'initial' selector")
 		selector := labels.NewSelector().Add(must(labels.NewRequirement("kcp-adoption.step1", selection.Exists, nil)))
 		Expect(input.BootstrapClusterProxy.CreateOrUpdate(ctx, workloadClusterTemplate, framework.WithLabelSelector(selector))).ShouldNot(HaveOccurred())