diff --git a/hack/jenkins/job-configs/kubernetes-jenkins/kubernetes-test-go.yaml b/hack/jenkins/job-configs/kubernetes-jenkins/kubernetes-test-go.yaml
index a704dc577cc..434b1e38dcd 100644
--- a/hack/jenkins/job-configs/kubernetes-jenkins/kubernetes-test-go.yaml
+++ b/hack/jenkins/job-configs/kubernetes-jenkins/kubernetes-test-go.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
     builders:
         - shell: 'bash <(curl -fsS --retry 3 "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/master/hack/jenkins/upload-started.sh")'
         - shell: |
+            export KUBE_FORCE_VERIFY_CHECKS='y'
             export KUBE_VERIFY_GIT_BRANCH='{branch}'
             timeout -k {kill-timeout}m {timeout}m ./hack/jenkins/gotest-dockerized.sh && rc=$? || rc=$?
             {report-rc}
diff --git a/hack/lib/util.sh b/hack/lib/util.sh
index b42f4fae199..86051b6afa1 100755
--- a/hack/lib/util.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/util.sh
@@ -312,4 +312,33 @@ kube::util::gv-to-swagger-name() {
   esac
 }
 
+# Returns the name of the upstream remote repository name for the local git
+# repo, e.g. "upstream" or "origin".
+kube::util::git_upstream_remote_name() {
+  git remote -v | grep fetch |\
+    grep -E 'github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes|k8s.io/kubernetes' |\
+    head -n 1 | awk '{print $1}'
+}
+
+# Checks whether there are any files matching pattern $2 changed between the
+# current branch and upstream branch named by $1.
+# Returns 1 (false) if there are no changes, 0 (true) if there are changes
+# detected.
+kube::util::has_changes_against_upstream_branch() {
+  local -r git_branch=$1
+  local -r pattern=$2
+
+  readonly full_branch="$(kube::util::git_upstream_remote_name)/${git_branch}"
+  echo "Checking for '${pattern}' changes against '${full_branch}'"
+  # make sure the branch is valid, otherwise the check will pass erroneously.
+  if ! git describe "${full_branch}" >/dev/null; then
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  # notice this uses ... to find the first shared ancestor
+  if ! git diff --name-only "${full_branch}...HEAD" | grep "${pattern}" > /dev/null; then
+    echo "No '${pattern}' changes detected."
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
 # ex: ts=2 sw=2 et filetype=sh
diff --git a/hack/verify-godep-licenses.sh b/hack/verify-godep-licenses.sh
index 4f73dc2bab0..6d98210984a 100755
--- a/hack/verify-godep-licenses.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-godep-licenses.sh
@@ -19,16 +19,11 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
 KUBE_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/.." && pwd -P)"
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
 
-readonly branch="origin/${1:-${KUBE_VERIFY_GIT_BRANCH:-master}}"
-echo "Checking for Godeps changes against ${branch}"
-# make sure the branch is valid, otherwise the next check will pass erroneously.
-if ! git describe "${branch}" >/dev/null; then
-  exit 1
-fi
-# notice this uses ... to find the first shared ancestor
-if ! git diff --name-only "${branch}...HEAD" | grep 'Godeps/' > /dev/null; then
-  echo "No Godeps changes detected."
+readonly branch=${1:-${KUBE_VERIFY_GIT_BRANCH:-master}}
+if ! [[ ${KUBE_FORCE_VERIFY_CHECKS:-} =~ ^[yY]$ ]] && \
+  ! kube::util::has_changes_against_upstream_branch "${branch}" 'Godeps/'; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
diff --git a/hack/verify-godeps.sh b/hack/verify-godeps.sh
index 2f91fd9d618..a9890a6858d 100755
--- a/hack/verify-godeps.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-godeps.sh
@@ -39,15 +39,9 @@ preload-dep() {
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
 
-readonly branch="origin/${1:-${KUBE_VERIFY_GIT_BRANCH:-master}}"
-echo "Checking for Godeps changes against ${branch}"
-# make sure the branch is valid, otherwise the next check will pass erroneously.
-if ! git describe "${branch}" >/dev/null; then
-  exit 1
-fi
-# notice this uses ... to find the first shared ancestor
-if ! git diff --name-only "${branch}...HEAD" | grep 'Godeps/' > /dev/null; then
-  echo "No Godeps changes detected."
+readonly branch=${1:-${KUBE_VERIFY_GIT_BRANCH:-master}}
+if ! [[ ${KUBE_FORCE_VERIFY_CHECKS:-} =~ ^[yY]$ ]] && \
+  ! kube::util::has_changes_against_upstream_branch "${branch}" 'Godeps/'; then
   exit 0
 fi