diff --git a/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/build-kind-image.sh b/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/build-kind-image.sh
index 9b8e4ce7f..361178594 100755
--- a/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/build-kind-image.sh
+++ b/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/build-kind-image.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ if [ "${EXISTING_IMAGE_ID}" != "" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
+PREBUILT_IMAGE="$( ( docker manifest inspect ${KIND_IMAGE} > /dev/null && echo "available" ) || ( echo "not-available" ) )"
+if [ "${PREBUILT_IMAGE}" = "available" ] && [ "${KIND_IMAGE_BASE}" = "" ]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 # Create a temorary directory to hold all the artifacts we need for building the image
 TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
 cleanup() {
@@ -43,5 +48,14 @@ KIND_K8S_DIR="${TMP_DIR}/kubernetes-${KIND_K8S_TAG}"
 # Checkout the version of kubernetes we want to build our kind image from
 git clone --depth 1 --branch ${KIND_K8S_TAG} ${KIND_K8S_REPO} ${KIND_K8S_DIR}
 
-# Build the kind base image
-kind build node-image --base-image "${KIND_IMAGE_BASE}" --image "${KIND_IMAGE}" "${KIND_K8S_DIR}"
+# Build the kind node image.
+# The default base image will be used unless it is specified using the
+# KIND_BASE_IMAGE environment variable.
+# This could be needed if new container runtime features are required.
+# Examples are:
+#   gcr.io/k8s-staging-kind/base:v20240213-749005b2
+#   docker.io/kindest/base:v20240202-8f1494ea
+kind build node-image \
+    ${KIND_IMAGE_BASE:+--base-image "${KIND_IMAGE_BASE}"} \
+    --image "${KIND_IMAGE}" \
+    "${KIND_K8S_DIR}"
diff --git a/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/common.sh b/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/common.sh
index 2398ed455..1f41090e4 100644
--- a/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/common.sh
+++ b/demo/clusters/kind/scripts/common.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ DRIVER_IMAGE_VERSION=$(from_versions_mk "VERSION")
 
 # The kubernetes tag to build the kind cluster from
 # From https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/tags
-: ${KIND_K8S_TAG:="v1.27.1"}
+# See also https://hub.docker.com/r/kindest/node/tags
+: ${KIND_K8S_TAG:="v1.29.1"}
 
 # The name of the kind cluster to create
 : ${KIND_CLUSTER_NAME:="${DRIVER_NAME}-cluster"}
@@ -45,8 +46,6 @@ DRIVER_IMAGE_VERSION=$(from_versions_mk "VERSION")
 # The path to kind's cluster configuration file
 : ${KIND_CLUSTER_CONFIG_PATH:="${SCRIPTS_DIR}/kind-cluster-config.yaml"}
 
-# The derived name of the kind image to build
-: ${KIND_IMAGE_BASE_TAG:="v20230515-01914134-containerd_v1.7.1"}
-: ${KIND_IMAGE_BASE:="gcr.io/k8s-staging-kind/base:${KIND_IMAGE_BASE_TAG}"}
-: ${KIND_IMAGE:="kindest/node:${KIND_K8S_TAG}-${KIND_IMAGE_BASE_TAG}"}
+# The kind image to use. This image will be built if it is not available.
+: ${KIND_IMAGE:="kindest/node:${KIND_K8S_TAG}"}