diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index 9ad04fc1f61..12a23233810 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -291,6 +291,7 @@ NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH="${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH:-}"
 NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS="${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS:-}"
 
 CNI_STORAGE_PATH="${CNI_STORAGE_PATH:-https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/network-plugins}"
+CNI_TAR_PREFIX="${CNI_TAR_PREFIX:-cni-plugins-amd64-}"
 CNI_VERSION="${CNI_VERSION:-}"
 CNI_SHA1="${CNI_SHA1:-}"
 
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index a099c6cfc69..f185b5a683b 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH="${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH:-}"
 NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS="${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS:-}"
 
 CNI_STORAGE_PATH="${CNI_STORAGE_PATH:-https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/network-plugins}"
+CNI_TAR_PREFIX="${CNI_TAR_PREFIX:-cni-plugins-amd64-}"
 CNI_VERSION="${CNI_VERSION:-}"
 CNI_SHA1="${CNI_SHA1:-}"
 
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
index 23340a69bd9..f8b2c3b76ca 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
@@ -236,10 +236,10 @@ function install-node-problem-detector {
 
 function install-cni-binaries {
   if [[ -n "${CNI_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
-      local -r cni_tar="cni-plugins-amd64-${CNI_VERSION}.tgz"
+      local -r cni_tar="${CNI_TAR_PREFIX}${CNI_VERSION}.tgz"
       local -r cni_sha1="${CNI_SHA1}"
   else
-      local -r cni_tar="cni-plugins-amd64-${DEFAULT_CNI_VERSION}.tgz"
+      local -r cni_tar="${CNI_TAR_PREFIX}${DEFAULT_CNI_VERSION}.tgz"
       local -r cni_sha1="${DEFAULT_CNI_SHA1}"
   fi
   if is-preloaded "${cni_tar}" "${cni_sha1}"; then
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 431757af222..793f2063256 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -1143,6 +1143,7 @@ NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_TAR_HASH: $(yaml-quote ${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_TAR_HASH:-}
 NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH: $(yaml-quote ${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_RELEASE_PATH:-})
 NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS: $(yaml-quote ${NODE_PROBLEM_DETECTOR_CUSTOM_FLAGS:-})
 CNI_STORAGE_PATH: $(yaml-quote ${CNI_STORAGE_PATH:-})
+CNI_TAR_PREFIX: $(yaml-quote ${CNI_TAR_PREFIX:-})
 CNI_VERSION: $(yaml-quote ${CNI_VERSION:-})
 CNI_SHA1: $(yaml-quote ${CNI_SHA1:-})
 ENABLE_NODE_LOGGING: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_NODE_LOGGING:-false})