diff --git a/config/kube_config.py b/config/kube_config.py
index a1fc59c98..14fd71a68 100644
--- a/config/kube_config.py
+++ b/config/kube_config.py
@@ -669,21 +669,15 @@ class KubeConfigMerger:
         self.config_files = {}
         self.config_merged = None
         if hasattr(paths, 'read'):
-            self.load_config_from_fileish(paths)
+            self._load_config_from_file_like_object(paths)
         else:
-            for path in paths.split(ENV_KUBECONFIG_PATH_SEPARATOR):
-                if path:
-                    path = os.path.expanduser(path)
-                    if os.path.exists(path):
-                        self.paths.append(path)
-                        self.load_config(path)
-            self.config_saved = copy.deepcopy(self.config_files)
+            self._load_config_from_file_path(paths)
 
     @property
     def config(self):
         return self.config_merged
 
-    def load_config_from_fileish(self, string):
+    def _load_config_from_file_like_object(self, string):
         if hasattr(string, 'getvalue'):
             config = yaml.safe_load(string.getvalue())
         else:
@@ -693,6 +687,15 @@ class KubeConfigMerger:
             self.config_merged = copy.deepcopy(config)
         # doesn't need to do any further merging
 
+    def _load_config_from_file_path(self, string):
+        for path in string.split(ENV_KUBECONFIG_PATH_SEPARATOR):
+            if path:
+                path = os.path.expanduser(path)
+                if os.path.exists(path):
+                    self.paths.append(path)
+                    self.load_config(path)
+        self.config_saved = copy.deepcopy(self.config_files)
+
     def load_config(self, path):
         with open(path) as f:
             config = yaml.safe_load(f)
diff --git a/config/kube_config_test.py b/config/kube_config_test.py
index e53c57675..1f74d3452 100644
--- a/config/kube_config_test.py
+++ b/config/kube_config_test.py
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ class TestKubeConfigLoader(BaseTestCase):
         finally:
             shutil.rmtree(temp_dir)
 
-    def test_load_kube_config(self):
+    def test_load_kube_config_from_file_path(self):
         expected = FakeConfig(host=TEST_HOST,
                               token=BEARER_TOKEN_FORMAT % TEST_DATA_BASE64)
         config_file = self._create_temp_file(
@@ -1258,19 +1258,19 @@ class TestKubeConfigLoader(BaseTestCase):
                          client_configuration=actual)
         self.assertEqual(expected, actual)
 
-    def test_load_kube_config_from_fileish(self):
+    def test_load_kube_config_from_file_like_object(self):
         expected = FakeConfig(host=TEST_HOST,
                               token=BEARER_TOKEN_FORMAT % TEST_DATA_BASE64)
-        config_fileish = io.StringIO()
-        config_fileish.write(yaml.safe_dump(self.TEST_KUBE_CONFIG))
+        config_file_like_object = io.StringIO()
+        config_file_like_object.write(yaml.safe_dump(self.TEST_KUBE_CONFIG))
         actual = FakeConfig()
-        load_kube_config(config_file=config_fileish, context="simple_token", client_configuration=actual)
+        load_kube_config(config_file=config_file_like_object, context="simple_token",
+                         client_configuration=actual)
         self.assertEqual(expected, actual)
 
     def test_load_kube_config_from_dict(self):
         expected = FakeConfig(host=TEST_HOST,
                               token=BEARER_TOKEN_FORMAT % TEST_DATA_BASE64)
-
         actual = FakeConfig()
         load_kube_config_from_dict(config_dict=self.TEST_KUBE_CONFIG,
                                    context="simple_token",