diff --git a/federation/cluster/federation-up.sh b/federation/cluster/federation-up.sh
index f279a28b938..a9d738935c1 100755
--- a/federation/cluster/federation-up.sh
+++ b/federation/cluster/federation-up.sh
@@ -37,16 +37,46 @@ FEDERATION_KUBE_CONTEXT="${FEDERATION_KUBE_CONTEXT:-e2e-federation}"
 DNS_ZONE_NAME="${FEDERATION_DNS_ZONE_NAME:-}"
 HOST_CLUSTER_CONTEXT="${FEDERATION_HOST_CLUSTER_CONTEXT:-${1}}"
 
+# get_version returns the version in KUBERNETES_RELEASE or defaults to the
+# value in the federation `versions` file.
+# TODO(madhusudancs): This is a duplicate of the function in
+# federation/develop/develop.sh with a minor difference. This
+# function tries to default to the version information in
+# _output/federation/versions file where as the one in develop.sh
+# tries to default to the version in the kubernetes versions file.
+# These functions should be consolidated to read the version from
+# kubernetes version defs file.
+function get_version() {
+  local -r versions_file="${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/federation/versions"
+
+  if [[ -n "${KUBERNETES_RELEASE:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "${KUBERNETES_RELEASE//+/_}"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  if [[ ! -f "${versions_file}" ]]; then
+    echo "Couldn't determine the release version: neither the " \
+     "KUBERNETES_RELEASE environment variable is set, nor does " \
+     "the versions file exist at ${versions_file}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Read the version back from the versions file if no version is given.
+  local -r kube_version="$(cat "${versions_file}" | python -c '\
+import json, sys;\
+print json.load(sys.stdin)["KUBE_VERSION"]')"
+
+  echo "${kube_version//+/_}"
+}
+
 # Initializes the control plane.
 # TODO(madhusudancs): Move this to federation/develop.sh.
 function init() {
-  : "${KUBERNETES_RELEASE?KUBERNETES_RELEASE environment variable must be set}"
-
   kube::log::status "Deploying federation control plane for ${FEDERATION_NAME} in cluster ${HOST_CLUSTER_CONTEXT}"
 
   local -r project="${KUBE_PROJECT:-${PROJECT:-}}"
   local -r kube_registry="${KUBE_REGISTRY:-gcr.io/${project}}"
-  local -r kube_version="${KUBERNETES_RELEASE//+/_}"
+  local -r kube_version="$(get_version)"
 
   "${KUBE_ROOT}/federation/develop/kubefed.sh" init \
       "${FEDERATION_NAME}" \
@@ -76,6 +106,7 @@ function create_cluster_secrets() {
 }
 
 USE_KUBEFED="${USE_KUBEFED:-}"
+
 if [[ "${USE_KUBEFED}" == "true" ]]; then
   init
   # TODO(madhusudancs): Call to create_cluster_secrets and the function
@@ -84,10 +115,6 @@ if [[ "${USE_KUBEFED}" == "true" ]]; then
   # BeforeEach blocks of each e2e test to work.
   create_cluster_secrets
 else
-  # Read the version back from the versions file if no version is given.
-  readonly kube_version="$(cat ${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/federation/versions | python -c '\
-import json, sys;\
-print json.load(sys.stdin)["KUBE_VERSION"]')"
-  export FEDERATION_IMAGE_TAG="$(echo ${KUBERNETES_RELEASE:-${kube_version}} | tr + _)"
+  export FEDERATION_IMAGE_TAG="$(get_version)"
   create-federation-api-objects
 fi
diff --git a/federation/develop/develop.sh b/federation/develop/develop.sh
index f03966a6b16..1a6859b98dc 100755
--- a/federation/develop/develop.sh
+++ b/federation/develop/develop.sh
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ function build_binaries() {
   kube::build::verify_prereqs
   kube::build::build_image
   kube::build::run_build_command make WHAT="cmd/kubectl cmd/hyperkube"
+  kube::build::copy_output
 }
 
 function build_image() {