diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 077e3346455..74a4f23654d 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 */
 
 // The kubelet binary is responsible for maintaining a set of containers on a particular host VM.
-// It sync's data from both configuration file as well as from a quorum of etcd servers.
+// It syncs data from both configuration file(s) as well as from a quorum of etcd servers.
 // It then queries Docker to see what is currently running.  It synchronizes the configuration data,
 // with the running set of containers by starting or stopping Docker containers.
 package main
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	file               = flag.String("config", "", "Path to the config file/dir")
+	config             = flag.String("config", "", "Path to the config file or directory of files")
 	etcdServers        = flag.String("etcd_servers", "", "Url of etcd servers in the cluster")
 	syncFrequency      = flag.Duration("sync_frequency", 10*time.Second, "Max period between synchronizing running containers and config")
-	fileCheckFrequency = flag.Duration("file_check_frequency", 20*time.Second, "Duration between checking file for new data")
+	fileCheckFrequency = flag.Duration("file_check_frequency", 20*time.Second, "Duration between checking config files for new data")
 	httpCheckFrequency = flag.Duration("http_check_frequency", 20*time.Second, "Duration between checking http for new data")
 	manifestUrl        = flag.String("manifest_url", "", "URL for accessing the container manifest")
 	address            = flag.String("address", "127.0.0.1", "The address for the info server to serve on")
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ func main() {
 
 	hostname := []byte(*hostnameOverride)
 	if string(hostname) == "" {
+		// Note: We use exec here instead of os.Hostname() because we
+		// want the FQDN, and this is the easiest way to get it.
 		hostname, err = exec.Command("hostname", "-f").Output()
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("Couldn't determine hostname: %v", err)
@@ -75,5 +77,5 @@ func main() {
 		SyncFrequency:      *syncFrequency,
 		HTTPCheckFrequency: *httpCheckFrequency,
 	}
-	my_kubelet.RunKubelet(*file, *manifestUrl, *etcdServers, *address, *port)
+	my_kubelet.RunKubelet(*config, *manifestUrl, *etcdServers, *address, *port)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 7339b6bc4c8..069123d493b 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -89,12 +89,12 @@ const (
 	httpServerSource = "http_server"
 )
 
-// Starts background goroutines. If file, manifest_url, or address are empty,
+// Starts background goroutines. If config_path, manifest_url, or address are empty,
 // they are not watched. Never returns.
-func (kl *Kubelet) RunKubelet(file, manifest_url, etcd_servers, address string, port uint) {
+func (kl *Kubelet) RunKubelet(config_path, manifest_url, etcd_servers, address string, port uint) {
 	updateChannel := make(chan manifestUpdate)
-	if file != "" {
-		go util.Forever(func() { kl.WatchFile(file, updateChannel) }, kl.FileCheckFrequency)
+	if config_path != "" {
+		go util.Forever(func() { kl.WatchFiles(config_path, updateChannel) }, kl.FileCheckFrequency)
 	}
 	if manifest_url != "" {
 		go util.Forever(func() {
@@ -451,32 +451,35 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) extractSingleFromReader(reader io.Reader) (api.ContainerManif
 	return manifest, nil
 }
 
-// Watch a file for changes to the set of pods that should run on this Kubelet
-// This function loops forever and is intended to be run as a goroutine
-func (kl *Kubelet) WatchFile(file string, updateChannel chan<- manifestUpdate) {
+// Watch a file or direcory of files for changes to the set of pods that
+// should run on this Kubelet.
+func (kl *Kubelet) WatchFiles(config_path string, updateChannel chan<- manifestUpdate) {
 	var err error
 
-	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(file)
+	statInfo, err := os.Stat(config_path)
 	if err != nil {
 		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			log.Printf("Error polling file: %#v", err)
+			log.Printf("Error accessing path: %#v", err)
 		}
 		return
 	}
-	if fileInfo.IsDir() {
-		manifests, err := kl.extractFromDir(file)
+	if statInfo.Mode().IsDir() {
+		manifests, err := kl.extractFromDir(config_path)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Error polling dir: %#v", err)
 			return
 		}
 		updateChannel <- manifestUpdate{fileSource, manifests}
-	} else {
-		manifest, err := kl.extractFromFile(file)
+	} else if statInfo.Mode().IsRegular() {
+		manifest, err := kl.extractFromFile(config_path)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("Error polling file: %#v", err)
 			return
 		}
 		updateChannel <- manifestUpdate{fileSource, []api.ContainerManifest{manifest}}
+	} else {
+		log.Printf("Error accessing config - not a directory or file")
+		return
 	}
 }