diff --git a/docs/devel/e2e-tests.md b/docs/devel/e2e-tests.md
index b67d3a5efb0..4a4a26342ed 100644
--- a/docs/devel/e2e-tests.md
+++ b/docs/devel/e2e-tests.md
@@ -266,8 +266,12 @@ Next, specify the docker repository where your ci images will be pushed.
 
 * **If `KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=gce` or `KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=gke`**:
 
-	You can simply set your push repo base based on your project name, and the necessary repositories will be auto-created when you
-	first push your container images.
+  If you use the same GCP project where you to run the e2e tests as the container image repository,
+  FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE environment variable will be defaulted to "gcr.io/${DEFAULT_GCP_PROJECT_NAME}".
+  You can skip ahead to the **Build** section.
+
+	You can simply set your push repo base based on your project name, and the necessary repositories will be
+  auto-created when you first push your container images.
 
 	```sh
 	$ export FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE="gcr.io/${GCE_PROJECT_NAME}"
diff --git a/federation/cluster/common.sh b/federation/cluster/common.sh
index ad3a9e5bc79..e836f84088e 100644
--- a/federation/cluster/common.sh
+++ b/federation/cluster/common.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,27 @@
 
 : "${KUBE_ROOT?Must set KUBE_ROOT env var}"
 
+# Provides the $KUBERNETES_PROVIDER variable and detect-project function
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kube-util.sh"
+
+# If $FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE isn't set, then set the GCR registry name
+# based on the detected project name for gce and gke providers.
+FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE=${FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE:-}
+if [[ -z "${FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE}" ]]; then
+    if [[ "${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER}" == "gke" || "${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER}" == "gce" ]]; then
+        # Populates $PROJECT
+        detect-project
+        if [[ ${PROJECT} == *':'* ]]; then
+            echo "${PROJECT} contains ':' and can not be used as FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE. Please set FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE explicitly."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE=gcr.io/${PROJECT}
+    else
+        echo "Must set FEDERATION_PUSH_REPO_BASE env var"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
 FEDERATION_IMAGE_REPO_BASE=${FEDERATION_IMAGE_REPO_BASE:-'gcr.io/google_containers'}
 FEDERATION_NAMESPACE=${FEDERATION_NAMESPACE:-federation-e2e}