diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/util.go b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
index 3f9054e11a7..590bcfd12b7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
@@ -3161,7 +3161,10 @@ func DeleteResourceAndWaitForGC(c clientset.Interface, kind schema.GroupKind, ns
 	terminatePodTime := time.Since(startTime) - deleteTime
 	Logf("Terminating %v %s pods took: %v", kind, name, terminatePodTime)
 
-	err = waitForPodsGone(ps, interval, 10*time.Minute)
+	// In gce, at any point, small percentage of nodes can disappear for
+	// ~10 minutes due to hostError. 20 minutes should be long enough to
+	// restart VM in that case and delete the pod.
+	err = waitForPodsGone(ps, interval, 20*time.Minute)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error while waiting for pods gone %s: %v", name, err)
 	}
@@ -3191,21 +3194,30 @@ func waitForPodsInactive(ps *testutils.PodStore, interval, timeout time.Duration
 
 	if err == wait.ErrWaitTimeout {
 		for _, pod := range activePods {
-			Logf("Pod %q running on %q is still active", pod.ObjectMeta.Name, pod.Spec.NodeName)
+			Logf("ERROR: Pod %q running on %q is still active", pod.Name, pod.Spec.NodeName)
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("there are %d active pods. E.g. %q on node %q", len(activePods), activePods[0].ObjectMeta.Name, activePods[0].Spec.NodeName)
+		return fmt.Errorf("there are %d active pods. E.g. %q on node %q", len(activePods), activePods[0].Name, activePods[0].Spec.NodeName)
 	}
 	return err
 }
 
 // waitForPodsGone waits until there are no pods left in the PodStore.
 func waitForPodsGone(ps *testutils.PodStore, interval, timeout time.Duration) error {
-	return wait.PollImmediate(interval, timeout, func() (bool, error) {
-		if pods := ps.List(); len(pods) == 0 {
+	var pods []*v1.Pod
+	err := wait.PollImmediate(interval, timeout, func() (bool, error) {
+		if pods = ps.List(); len(pods) == 0 {
 			return true, nil
 		}
 		return false, nil
 	})
+
+	if err == wait.ErrWaitTimeout {
+		for _, pod := range pods {
+			Logf("ERROR: Pod %q still exists. Node: %q", pod.Name, pod.Spec.NodeName)
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("there are %d pods left. E.g. %q on node %q", len(pods), pods[0].Name, pods[0].Spec.NodeName)
+	}
+	return err
 }
 
 func WaitForPodsReady(c clientset.Interface, ns, name string, minReadySeconds int) error {