diff --git a/cluster/common.sh b/cluster/common.sh
index 819aa025223..e20cece0eda 100755
--- a/cluster/common.sh
+++ b/cluster/common.sh
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ function find-release-tars() {
   # This tarball is used by GCI, Ubuntu Trusty, and Container Linux.
   KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR=
   if [[ "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "trusty" || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "gci" || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "ubuntu" ]] || \
-     [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "trusty" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "gci" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "ubuntu" ]] ; then
+     [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "trusty" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "gci" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "ubuntu" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION:-}" == "custom" ]] ; then
     KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR=$(find-tar kubernetes-manifests.tar.gz)
   fi
 }
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 6a8b31b9f06..87cc569fcd1 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ TEST_CLUSTER_RESYNC_PERIOD="${TEST_CLUSTER_RESYNC_PERIOD:---min-resync-period=3m
 TEST_CLUSTER_API_CONTENT_TYPE="${TEST_CLUSTER_API_CONTENT_TYPE:-}"
 
 KUBELET_TEST_ARGS="${KUBELET_TEST_ARGS:-} --max-pods=110 --serialize-image-pulls=false ${TEST_CLUSTER_API_CONTENT_TYPE}"
-if [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" ]] || [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]]; then
+if [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" ]] || [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]] || [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "custom" ]]; then
   NODE_KUBELET_TEST_ARGS=" --experimental-kernel-memcg-notification=true"
 fi
 if [[ "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" ]] || [[ "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]]; then
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index af5279623b1..8205ecb7319 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/${KUBE_CONFIG_FILE-"config-default.sh"}"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/common.sh"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/util.sh"
 
-if [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]]; then
+if [[ "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "custom" ]]; then
   source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/gce/${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}/node-helper.sh"
 else
   echo "Cannot operate on cluster using node os distro: ${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" >&2
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ function build-kube-env {
   local server_binary_tar_url=$SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL
   local kube_manifests_tar_url="${KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR_URL:-}"
   if [[ "${master}" == "true" && "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]] || \
-     [[ "${master}" == "false" && "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]] ; then
+     [[ "${master}" == "false" && ("${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "custom") ]]; then
     # TODO: Support fallback .tar.gz settings on Container Linux
     server_binary_tar_url=$(split_csv "${SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL}")
     kube_manifests_tar_url=$(split_csv "${KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR_URL}")
@@ -769,8 +769,8 @@ EOF
 TERMINATED_POD_GC_THRESHOLD: $(yaml-quote ${TERMINATED_POD_GC_THRESHOLD})
 EOF
   fi
-  if [[ "${master}" == "true" && ("${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "trusty" || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci") || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu" ]] || \
-     [[ "${master}" == "false" && ("${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "trusty" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci") || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" = "ubuntu" ]] ; then
+  if [[ "${master}" == "true" && ("${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "trusty" || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" || "${MASTER_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "ubuntu") ]] || \
+     [[ "${master}" == "false" && ("${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "trusty" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" == "gci" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" = "ubuntu" || "${NODE_OS_DISTRIBUTION}" = "custom") ]] ; then
     cat >>$file <<EOF
 KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR_URL: $(yaml-quote ${kube_manifests_tar_url})
 KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR_HASH: $(yaml-quote ${KUBE_MANIFESTS_TAR_HASH})