diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
index 7ce2ed1defd..6f7f6fd0d15 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ cluster/photon-controller/templates/salt-minion.sh:  hostname_override: $(ip rou
 cluster/photon-controller/util.sh:    node_ip=$(${PHOTON} vm networks "${node_id}" | grep -i $'\t'"00:0C:29" | grep -E '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | head -1 | awk -F'\t' '{print $3}')
 cluster/photon-controller/util.sh:  local cert_dir="/srv/kubernetes"
 cluster/photon-controller/util.sh:  node_name=${1}
+cluster/photon-controller/util.sh:  ssh_key=$(ssh-add -L | head -1)
 cluster/rackspace/util.sh:    local node_ip=$(nova show --minimal ${NODE_NAMES[$i]} \
 cluster/saltbase/salt/cluster-autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler.manifest:{% set params = pillar['autoscaler_mig_config'] + " " + cloud_config -%}
 cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest:        "value": "{{ storage_backend }}"
diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
index 3b25ad6c185..1baabfdf7b3 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/known-flags.txt
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ sort-by
 source-file
 ssh-env
 ssh-keyfile
+ssh-key
 ssh-options
 ssh-user
 start-services
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go b/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
index 22e550ba0c5..fe82a664637 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@ import (
 
 var sshOptions = flag.String("ssh-options", "", "Commandline options passed to ssh.")
 var sshEnv = flag.String("ssh-env", "", "Use predefined ssh options for environment.  Options: gce")
+var sshKey = flag.String("ssh-key", "", "Path to ssh private key.")
 var sshUser = flag.String("ssh-user", "", "Use predefined user for ssh.")
 
 var sshOptionsMap map[string]string
+var sshDefaultKeyMap map[string]string
 
 func init() {
 	usr, err := user.Current()
@@ -39,7 +41,10 @@ func init() {
 		glog.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	sshOptionsMap = map[string]string{
-		"gce": fmt.Sprintf("-i %s/.ssh/google_compute_engine -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o CheckHostIP=no -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ServerAliveInterval=30 -o LogLevel=ERROR", usr.HomeDir),
+		"gce": "-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o CheckHostIP=no -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ServerAliveInterval=30 -o LogLevel=ERROR",
+	}
+	sshDefaultKeyMap = map[string]string{
+		"gce": fmt.Sprintf("%s/.ssh/google_compute_engine", usr.HomeDir),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -87,6 +92,11 @@ func SSHNoSudo(host string, cmd ...string) (string, error) {
 
 // runSSHCommand executes the ssh or scp command, adding the flag provided --ssh-options
 func runSSHCommand(cmd string, args ...string) (string, error) {
+	if *sshKey != "" {
+		args = append([]string{"-i", *sshKey}, args...)
+	} else if key, found := sshDefaultKeyMap[*sshEnv]; found {
+		args = append([]string{"-i", key}, args...)
+	}
 	if env, found := sshOptionsMap[*sshEnv]; found {
 		args = append(strings.Split(env, " "), args...)
 	}