diff --git a/hack/jenkins/test-dockerized.sh b/hack/jenkins/test-dockerized.sh
index 69a9852dacd..b2e84778e87 100755
--- a/hack/jenkins/test-dockerized.sh
+++ b/hack/jenkins/test-dockerized.sh
@@ -19,17 +19,6 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 set -o xtrace
 
-retry() {
-  for i in {1..5}; do
-    if "$@"; then
-      return 0
-    else
-      sleep "${i}"
-    fi
-  done
-  "$@"
-}
-
 # Runs the unit and integration tests, producing JUnit-style XML test
 # reports in ${WORKSPACE}/artifacts. This script is intended to be run from
 # kubekins-test container with a kubernetes repo mapped in. See
@@ -47,14 +36,10 @@ pushd "./hack/tools" >/dev/null
   GO111MODULE=on go install gotest.tools/gotestsum
 popd >/dev/null
 
-# Enable the Go race detector.
-export KUBE_RACE=-race
 # Disable coverage report
 export KUBE_COVER="n"
 # Set artifacts directory
 export ARTIFACTS=${ARTIFACTS:-"${WORKSPACE}/artifacts"}
-# Produce a JUnit-style XML test report
-export KUBE_JUNIT_REPORT_DIR="${ARTIFACTS}"
 # Save the verbose stdout as well.
 export KUBE_KEEP_VERBOSE_TEST_OUTPUT=y
 export KUBE_INTEGRATION_TEST_MAX_CONCURRENCY=4
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
index 52b7a3f4893..f6edd1dee92 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd.sh
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ if [[ ${WHAT} == "" || ${WHAT} =~ .*kubeadm.* ]] ; then
   # invoke the tests
   make -C "${KUBE_ROOT}" test \
     WHAT=k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd \
-    KUBE_TIMEOUT=--timeout=240s
+    KUBE_TIMEOUT=--timeout=240s \
+    KUBE_RACE=""
 
   # if we ONLY want to run kubeadm, then exit here.
   if [[ ${WHAT} == "kubeadm" ]]; then
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-integration.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-integration.sh
index 88647f8afd2..9707fefd37d 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-integration.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-integration.sh
@@ -66,16 +66,12 @@ runTests() {
   kube::etcd::start
   kube::log::status "Running integration test cases"
 
-  # export KUBE_RACE
-  #
-  # Enable the Go race detector.
-  export KUBE_RACE="-race"
   make -C "${KUBE_ROOT}" test \
       WHAT="${WHAT:-$(kube::test::find_integration_test_dirs | paste -sd' ' -)}" \
       GOFLAGS="${GOFLAGS:-}" \
       KUBE_TEST_ARGS="--alsologtostderr=true ${KUBE_TEST_ARGS:-} ${SHORT:--short=true} --vmodule=${KUBE_TEST_VMODULE}" \
-      KUBE_RACE="" \
-      KUBE_TIMEOUT="${KUBE_TIMEOUT}"
+      KUBE_TIMEOUT="${KUBE_TIMEOUT}" \
+      KUBE_RACE=""
 
   cleanup
 }
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test.sh b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
index 21cd65c4922..3b9e5520cc6 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,10 @@ KUBE_COVER_REPORT_DIR="${KUBE_COVER_REPORT_DIR:-}"
 # How many 'go test' instances to run simultaneously when running tests in
 # coverage mode.
 KUBE_COVERPROCS=${KUBE_COVERPROCS:-4}
-KUBE_RACE=${KUBE_RACE:-}   # use KUBE_RACE="-race" to enable race testing
+# use KUBE_RACE="" to disable the race detector
+# this is defaulted to "-race" in make test as well
+# NOTE: DO NOT ADD A COLON HERE. KUBE_RACE="" is meaningful!
+KUBE_RACE=${KUBE_RACE-"-race"}
 # Set to the goveralls binary path to report coverage results to Coveralls.io.
 KUBE_GOVERALLS_BIN=${KUBE_GOVERALLS_BIN:-}
 # once we have multiple group supports
@@ -250,7 +253,7 @@ runTests() {
   # If we're not collecting coverage, run all requested tests with one 'go test'
   # command, which is much faster.
   if [[ ! ${KUBE_COVER} =~ ^[yY]$ ]]; then
-    kube::log::status "Running tests without code coverage"
+    kube::log::status "Running tests without code coverage ${KUBE_RACE:+"and with ${KUBE_RACE}"}"
     go test "${goflags[@]:+${goflags[@]}}" \
      "${KUBE_TIMEOUT}" "${@}" \
      "${testargs[@]:+${testargs[@]}}" \
@@ -260,6 +263,8 @@ runTests() {
     return ${rc}
   fi
 
+  kube::log::status "Running tests with code coverage ${KUBE_RACE:+"and with ${KUBE_RACE}"}"
+
   # Create coverage report directories.
   if [[ -z "${KUBE_COVER_REPORT_DIR}" ]]; then
     cover_report_dir="/tmp/k8s_coverage/$(kube::util::sortable_date)"