diff --git a/hack/update-bindata.sh b/hack/update-bindata.sh
index 0adae8867c3..d5c87a22add 100755
--- a/hack/update-bindata.sh
+++ b/hack/update-bindata.sh
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 set -o nounset
 
 if [[ -z "${KUBE_ROOT:-}" ]]; then
-	# Relative to test/e2e/generated/
-	KUBE_ROOT="../../../"
+	KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 fi
 
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/lib/logging.sh"
@@ -37,7 +36,7 @@ if ! which go-bindata &>/dev/null ; then
 fi
 
 BINDATA_OUTPUT="${KUBE_ROOT}/test/e2e/generated/bindata.go"
-go-bindata -nometadata -prefix "${KUBE_ROOT}" -o ${BINDATA_OUTPUT} -pkg generated \
+go-bindata -nometadata -prefix "${KUBE_ROOT}" -o "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}.tmp" -pkg generated \
 	-ignore .jpg -ignore .png -ignore .md \
 	"${KUBE_ROOT}/examples/..." \
 	"${KUBE_ROOT}/docs/user-guide/..." \
@@ -45,6 +44,16 @@ go-bindata -nometadata -prefix "${KUBE_ROOT}" -o ${BINDATA_OUTPUT} -pkg generate
 	"${KUBE_ROOT}/test/images/..." \
 	"${KUBE_ROOT}/test/fixtures/..."
 
-gofmt -s -w ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}
+gofmt -s -w "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}.tmp"
 
-V=2 kube::log::info "Generated bindata file : $(wc -l ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}) lines of lovely automated artifacts"
+# Here we compare and overwrite only if different to avoid updating the
+# timestamp and triggering a rebuild. The 'cat' redirect trick to preserve file
+# permissions of the target file.
+if ! cmp -s "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}.tmp" "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}" ; then
+	cat "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}.tmp" > "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}"
+	V=2 kube::log::info "Generated bindata file : ${BINDATA_OUTPUT} has $(wc -l ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}) lines of lovely automated artifacts"
+else
+	V=2 kube::log::info "No changes in generated bindata file: ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}"
+fi
+
+rm -f "${BINDATA_OUTPUT}.tmp"