diff --git a/test/e2e/rc.go b/test/e2e/rc.go
index 71b34243385..fbb95c77d28 100644
--- a/test/e2e/rc.go
+++ b/test/e2e/rc.go
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util/wait"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ func ServeImageOrFail(c *client.Client, test string, image string) {
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 	}
 
-	By("Ensuring each pod is running and has a hostIP")
+	By("Ensuring each pod is running")
 
 	// Wait for the pods to enter the running state. Waiting loops until the pods
 	// are running so non-running pods cause a timeout for this test.
@@ -135,35 +137,43 @@ func ServeImageOrFail(c *client.Client, test string, image string) {
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 	}
 
-	// Try to make sure we get a hostIP for each pod.
-	hostIPTimeout := 2 * time.Minute
-	t = time.Now()
-	for i, pod := range pods.Items {
-		for {
-			p, err := c.Pods(ns).Get(pod.Name)
-			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-			if p.Status.HostIP != "" {
-				Logf("Controller %s: Replica %d has hostIP: %s", name, i+1, p.Status.HostIP)
-				break
-			}
-			if time.Since(t) >= hostIPTimeout {
-				Failf("Controller %s: Gave up waiting for hostIP of replica %d after %v seconds",
-					name, i, time.Since(t).Seconds())
-			}
-			Logf("Controller %s: Retrying to get the hostIP of replica %d", name, i+1)
-			time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Re-fetch the pod information to update the host port information.
-	pods, err = c.Pods(ns).List(label)
-	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-
 	// Verify that something is listening.
 	By("Trying to dial each unique pod")
+	retryTimeout := 2 * time.Minute
+	retryInterval := 5 * time.Second
+	err = wait.Poll(retryInterval, retryTimeout, responseChecker{c, ns, label, name, pods}.checkAllResponses)
+	if err != nil {
+		Failf("Did not get expected responses within the timeout period of %.2f seconds.", retryTimeout.Seconds())
+	}
+}
 
-	for i, pod := range pods.Items {
-		body, err := c.Get().
+func isElementOf(podUID types.UID, pods *api.PodList) bool {
+	for _, pod := range pods.Items {
+		if pod.UID == podUID {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+type responseChecker struct {
+	c              *client.Client
+	ns             string
+	label          labels.Selector
+	controllerName string
+	pods           *api.PodList
+}
+
+func (r responseChecker) checkAllResponses() (done bool, err error) {
+	successes := 0
+	currentPods, err := r.c.Pods(r.ns).List(r.label)
+	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+	for i, pod := range r.pods.Items {
+		// Check that the replica list remains unchanged, otherwise we have problems.
+		if !isElementOf(pod.UID, currentPods) {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("Pod with UID %s is no longer a member of the replica set.  Must have been restarted for some reason.  Current replica set: %v", pod.UID, currentPods)
+		}
+		body, err := r.c.Get().
 			Prefix("proxy").
 			Namespace(api.NamespaceDefault).
 			Resource("pods").
@@ -171,12 +181,19 @@ func ServeImageOrFail(c *client.Client, test string, image string) {
 			Do().
 			Raw()
 		if err != nil {
-			Failf("Controller %s: Failed to GET from replica %d: %v", name, i+1, err)
+			Logf("Controller %s: Failed to GET from replica %d (%s): %v:", r.controllerName, i+1, pod.Name, err)
+			continue
 		}
 		// The body should be the pod name.
 		if string(body) != pod.Name {
-			Failf("Controller %s: Replica %d expected response %s but got %s", name, i+1, pod.Name, string(body))
+			Logf("Controller %s: Replica %d expected response %s but got %s", r.controllerName, i+1, pod.Name, string(body))
+			continue
 		}
-		Logf("Controller %s: Got expected result from replica %d: %s", name, i+1, string(body))
+		successes++
+		Logf("Controller %s: Got expected result from replica %d: %s, %d of %d required successes so far", r.controllerName, i+1, string(body), successes, len(r.pods.Items))
 	}
+	if successes < len(r.pods.Items) {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	return true, nil
 }