diff --git a/_redirects b/_redirects
index 70e111ece7..54281eba3b 100644
--- a/_redirects
+++ b/_redirects
@@ -220,6 +220,11 @@
 
 /docs/whatisk8s													/docs/concepts/overview/what-is-kubernetes		301
 
+#
+# pattern matching redirects
+#
+/docs/user-guide/kubectl/kubectl_*								/docs/user-guide/kubectl/v1.7/#:splat		200
+
 #
 # redirects from /js/redirects.js
 #
diff --git a/js/redirects.js b/js/redirects.js
index f7aae1ed62..3cb002c40d 100644
--- a/js/redirects.js
+++ b/js/redirects.js
@@ -21,12 +21,6 @@ $( document ).ready(function() {
         "to":"/docs/api-reference/v1.7",
         "postfix":"/#<token>-v1-core"
     },
-    {
-        "from":"/docs/user-guide/kubectl/kubectl_",
-        "pattern":"kubectl_(\\w+)",
-        "to":"/docs/user-guide/kubectl/v1.7",
-        "postfix":"/#<token>"
-    },
     {
         "from":"/docs/contribute/",
         "pattern":"\/contribute\/([0-9a-zA-Z\-\_]+)",