diff --git a/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py b/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
index 6b54e40e9..81f86d8b1 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/provider/cloud/google_cloud.py
@@ -57,13 +57,23 @@ def kubernetes_versions(region: str) -> List[str]:
     credentials, project_id = load_credentials()
     client = container_v1.ClusterManagerClient(credentials=credentials)
     response = client.get_server_config(
-        name=f"projects/{project_id}/locations/{region}"
+        name=f"projects/{project_id}/locations/{region}", timeout=300
     )
     supported_kubernetes_versions = response.valid_master_versions
 
     return filter_by_highest_supported_k8s_version(supported_kubernetes_versions)
 
 
+def get_patch_version(full_version: str) -> str:
+    return full_version.split("-")[0]
+
+
+def get_minor_version(full_version: str) -> str:
+    patch_version = get_patch_version(full_version)
+    parts = patch_version.split(".")
+    return f"{parts[0]}.{parts[1]}"
+
+
 def cluster_exists(cluster_name: str, region: str) -> bool:
     """Check if a GKE cluster exists."""
     credentials, project_id = load_credentials()
diff --git a/src/_nebari/stages/infrastructure/__init__.py b/src/_nebari/stages/infrastructure/__init__.py
index b716bbd5d..41e5d8241 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/stages/infrastructure/__init__.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/stages/infrastructure/__init__.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 import tempfile
 from typing import Annotated, Any, Dict, List, Literal, Optional, Tuple, Type, Union
 
-from pydantic import Field, field_validator, model_validator
+from pydantic import ConfigDict, Field, field_validator, model_validator
 
 from _nebari import constants
 from _nebari.provider import terraform
@@ -359,6 +359,9 @@ class GCPNodeGroup(schema.Base):
 
 
 class GoogleCloudPlatformProvider(schema.Base):
+    # If you pass a major and minor version without a patch version
+    # yaml will pass it as a float, so we need to coerce it to a string
+    model_config = ConfigDict(coerce_numbers_to_str=True)
     region: str
     project: str
     kubernetes_version: str
@@ -373,6 +376,12 @@ class GoogleCloudPlatformProvider(schema.Base):
     master_authorized_networks_config: Optional[Union[GCPCIDRBlock, None]] = None
     private_cluster_config: Optional[Union[GCPPrivateClusterConfig, None]] = None
 
+    @field_validator("kubernetes_version", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def transform_version_to_str(cls, value) -> str:
+        """Transforms the version to a string if it is not already."""
+        return str(value)
+
     @model_validator(mode="before")
     @classmethod
     def _check_input(cls, data: Any) -> Any:
@@ -383,8 +392,10 @@ def _check_input(cls, data: Any) -> Any:
             )
 
         available_kubernetes_versions = google_cloud.kubernetes_versions(data["region"])
-        print(available_kubernetes_versions)
-        if data["kubernetes_version"] not in available_kubernetes_versions:
+        if not any(
+            v.startswith(str(data["kubernetes_version"]))
+            for v in available_kubernetes_versions
+        ):
             raise ValueError(
                 f"\nInvalid `kubernetes-version` provided: {data['kubernetes_version']}.\nPlease select from one of the following supported Kubernetes versions: {available_kubernetes_versions} or omit flag to use latest Kubernetes version available."
             )
diff --git a/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py b/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
index 743d30cb4..0b5f36bc7 100644
--- a/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
+++ b/src/_nebari/subcommands/init.py
@@ -409,13 +409,15 @@ def check_cloud_provider_kubernetes_version(
         versions = google_cloud.kubernetes_versions(region)
 
         if not kubernetes_version or kubernetes_version == LATEST:
-            kubernetes_version = get_latest_kubernetes_version(versions)
+            kubernetes_version = google_cloud.get_patch_version(
+                get_latest_kubernetes_version(versions)
+            )
             rich.print(
                 DEFAULT_KUBERNETES_VERSION_MSG.format(
                     kubernetes_version=kubernetes_version
                 )
             )
-        if kubernetes_version not in versions:
+        if not any(v.startswith(kubernetes_version) for v in versions):
             raise ValueError(
                 f"Invalid Kubernetes version `{kubernetes_version}`. Please refer to the GCP docs for a list of valid versions: {versions}"
             )