diff --git a/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
index a0f2ffc3002..b61f1adbfc4 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
@@ -655,12 +655,16 @@ function prepare-etcd-manifest {
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *hostname *}}@$host_name@g" "${temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *srv_kube_path *}}@/etc/srv/kubernetes@g" "${temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *etcd_cluster *}}@$etcd_cluster@g" "${temp_file}"
+  # Get default storage backend from manifest file.
+  local -r default_storage_backend=$(cat "${temp_file}" | \
+    grep -o "{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}" | \
+    sed -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g")
   if [[ -n "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@${STORAGE_BACKEND}@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g" "${temp_file}"
   fi
-  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
+  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-${default_storage_backend}}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@--quota-backend-bytes=4294967296@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@@g" "${temp_file}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index f9206d69b12..bb6a5b2e05a 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -721,12 +721,16 @@ function prepare-etcd-manifest {
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *hostname *}}@$host_name@g" "${temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *srv_kube_path *}}@/etc/srv/kubernetes@g" "${temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *etcd_cluster *}}@$etcd_cluster@g" "${temp_file}"
+  # Get default storage backend from manifest file.
+  local -r default_storage_backend=$(cat "${temp_file}" | \
+    grep -o "{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}" | \
+    sed -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g")
   if [[ -n "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@${STORAGE_BACKEND}@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g" "${temp_file}"
   fi
-  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
+  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-${default_storage_backend}}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@--quota-backend-bytes=4294967296@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@@g" "${temp_file}"
diff --git a/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
index 53e7e38b874..2b0bbf912f0 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
@@ -476,12 +476,16 @@ prepare_etcd_manifest() {
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *srv_kube_path *}}@/etc/srv/kubernetes@g" "${etcd_temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *hostname *}}@$host_name@g" "${etcd_temp_file}"
   sed -i -e "s@{{ *etcd_cluster *}}@$etcd_cluster@g" "${etcd_temp_file}"
+  # Get default storage backend from manifest file.
+  local -r default_storage_backend=$(cat "${temp_file}" | \
+    grep -o "{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}" | \
+    sed -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g")
   if [[ -n "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@${STORAGE_BACKEND}@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *pillar\.get('storage_backend', '\(.*\)') *}}@\1@g" "${temp_file}"
   fi
-  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
+  if [[ "${STORAGE_BACKEND:-${default_storage_backend}}" == "etcd3" ]]; then
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@--quota-backend-bytes=4294967296@g" "${temp_file}"
   else
     sed -i -e "s@{{ *quota_bytes *}}@@g" "${temp_file}"