diff --git a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
index 2c6f2c64409..099d6c87706 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
@@ -337,6 +337,21 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 	}
 
 	err := clientretry.RetryOnConflict(UpdateNodeSpecBackoff, func() error {
+		// TODO(wlan0): Move this logic to the route controller using the node taint instead of condition
+		// Since there are node taints, do we still need this?
+		// This condition marks the node as unusable until routes are initialized in the cloud provider
+		if cnc.cloud.ProviderName() == "gce" {
+			if err := nodeutil.SetNodeCondition(cnc.kubeClient, types.NodeName(node.Name), v1.NodeCondition{
+				Type:               v1.NodeNetworkUnavailable,
+				Status:             v1.ConditionTrue,
+				Reason:             "NoRouteCreated",
+				Message:            "Node created without a route",
+				LastTransitionTime: metav1.Now(),
+			}); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+
 		curNode, err := cnc.kubeClient.CoreV1().Nodes().Get(node.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -374,19 +389,6 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 			curNode.ObjectMeta.Labels[kubeletapis.LabelInstanceType] = instanceType
 		}
 
-		// TODO(wlan0): Move this logic to the route controller using the node taint instead of condition
-		// Since there are node taints, do we still need this?
-		// This condition marks the node as unusable until routes are initialized in the cloud provider
-		if cnc.cloud.ProviderName() == "gce" {
-			curNode.Status.Conditions = append(node.Status.Conditions, v1.NodeCondition{
-				Type:               v1.NodeNetworkUnavailable,
-				Status:             v1.ConditionTrue,
-				Reason:             "NoRouteCreated",
-				Message:            "Node created without a route",
-				LastTransitionTime: metav1.Now(),
-			})
-		}
-
 		if zones, ok := cnc.cloud.Zones(); ok {
 			zone, err := getZoneByProviderIDOrName(zones, curNode)
 			if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/testutil/test_utils.go b/pkg/controller/testutil/test_utils.go
index b6487e0a791..585298ffa5a 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/testutil/test_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/testutil/test_utils.go
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func (m *FakeNodeHandler) UpdateStatus(node *v1.Node) (*v1.Node, error) {
 // PatchStatus patches a status of a Node in the fake store.
 func (m *FakeNodeHandler) PatchStatus(nodeName string, data []byte) (*v1.Node, error) {
 	m.RequestCount++
-	return &v1.Node{}, nil
+	return m.Patch(nodeName, types.StrategicMergePatchType, data, "status")
 }
 
 // Watch watches Nodes in a fake store.