diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 04642b65947..89c0c4b254f 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -367,15 +367,18 @@ function detect-nodes() {
 function detect-master() {
   detect-project
   KUBE_MASTER=${MASTER_NAME}
+  echo "Trying to find master named '${MASTER_NAME}'" >&2
   if [[ -z "${KUBE_MASTER_IP-}" ]]; then
-    KUBE_MASTER_IP=$(gcloud compute addresses describe "${MASTER_NAME}-ip" \
+    local master_address_name="${MASTER_NAME}-ip"
+    echo "Looking for address '${master_address_name}'" >&2
+    KUBE_MASTER_IP=$(gcloud compute addresses describe "${master_address_name}" \
       --project "${PROJECT}" --region "${REGION}" -q --format='value(address)')
   fi
   if [[ -z "${KUBE_MASTER_IP-}" ]]; then
     echo "Could not detect Kubernetes master node.  Make sure you've launched a cluster with 'kube-up.sh'" >&2
     exit 1
   fi
-  echo "Using master: $KUBE_MASTER (external IP: $KUBE_MASTER_IP)"
+  echo "Using master: $KUBE_MASTER (external IP: $KUBE_MASTER_IP)" >&2
 }
 
 # Reads kube-env metadata from master
diff --git a/hack/e2e.go b/hack/e2e.go
index 124ed378f7b..f1044dbec76 100644
--- a/hack/e2e.go
+++ b/hack/e2e.go
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ func Test() bool {
 	}
 
 	// TODO(fejta): add a --federated or something similar
-	if os.Getenv("FEDERATION") == "" {
+	if os.Getenv("FEDERATION") != "true" {
 		if *checkNodeCount {
 			ValidateClusterSize()
 		}