diff --git a/federation/cmd/federation-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go b/federation/cmd/federation-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
index 29ca3dceb67..a66b34b3f99 100644
--- a/federation/cmd/federation-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
+++ b/federation/cmd/federation-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
@@ -156,9 +156,8 @@ func Run(s *options.CMServer) error {
 }
 
 func StartControllers(s *options.CMServer, restClientCfg *restclient.Config) error {
-	glog.Infof("Loading client config for cluster controller %q", "cluster-controller")
-	ccClientset := federationclientset.NewForConfigOrDie(restclient.AddUserAgent(restClientCfg, "cluster-controller"))
-	glog.Infof("Running cluster controller")
+	stopChan := wait.NeverStop
+	minimizeLatency := false
 
 	discoveryClient := discovery.NewDiscoveryClientForConfigOrDie(restClientCfg)
 	serverResources, err := discoveryClient.ServerResources()
@@ -166,7 +165,7 @@ func StartControllers(s *options.CMServer, restClientCfg *restclient.Config) err
 		glog.Fatalf("Could not find resources from API Server: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	go clustercontroller.NewClusterController(ccClientset, s.ClusterMonitorPeriod.Duration).Run()
+	clustercontroller.StartClusterController(restClientCfg, stopChan, s.ClusterMonitorPeriod.Duration)
 
 	if controllerEnabled(s.Controllers, serverResources, servicecontroller.ControllerName, servicecontroller.RequiredResources, true) {
 		dns, err := dnsprovider.InitDnsProvider(s.DnsProvider, s.DnsConfigFile)
diff --git a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller.go b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller.go
index 206125a1d4f..422e0aabe58 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch"
+	restclient "k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache"
 	federationv1beta1 "k8s.io/kubernetes/federation/apis/federation/v1beta1"
 	clustercache "k8s.io/kubernetes/federation/client/cache"
@@ -53,8 +54,17 @@ type ClusterController struct {
 	clusterStore      clustercache.StoreToClusterLister
 }
 
-// NewClusterController returns a new cluster controller
-func NewClusterController(federationClient federationclientset.Interface, clusterMonitorPeriod time.Duration) *ClusterController {
+// StartClusterController starts a new cluster controller
+func StartClusterController(config *restclient.Config, stopChan <-chan struct{}, clusterMonitorPeriod time.Duration) {
+	restclient.AddUserAgent(config, "cluster-controller")
+	client := federationclientset.NewForConfigOrDie(config)
+	controller := newClusterController(client, clusterMonitorPeriod)
+	glog.Infof("Starting cluster controller")
+	controller.Run(stopChan)
+}
+
+// newClusterController returns a new cluster controller
+func newClusterController(federationClient federationclientset.Interface, clusterMonitorPeriod time.Duration) *ClusterController {
 	cc := &ClusterController{
 		knownClusterSet:         make(sets.String),
 		federationClient:        federationClient,
@@ -112,15 +122,15 @@ func (cc *ClusterController) addToClusterSet(obj interface{}) {
 }
 
 // Run begins watching and syncing.
-func (cc *ClusterController) Run() {
+func (cc *ClusterController) Run(stopChan <-chan struct{}) {
 	defer utilruntime.HandleCrash()
-	go cc.clusterController.Run(wait.NeverStop)
+	go cc.clusterController.Run(stopChan)
 	// monitor cluster status periodically, in phase 1 we just get the health state from "/healthz"
 	go wait.Until(func() {
 		if err := cc.UpdateClusterStatus(); err != nil {
 			glog.Errorf("Error monitoring cluster status: %v", err)
 		}
-	}, cc.clusterMonitorPeriod, wait.NeverStop)
+	}, cc.clusterMonitorPeriod, stopChan)
 }
 
 func (cc *ClusterController) GetClusterClient(cluster *federationv1beta1.Cluster) (*ClusterClient, error) {
diff --git a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller_test.go b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller_test.go
index 5404c6dbea8..5d4b04ca590 100644
--- a/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller_test.go
+++ b/federation/pkg/federation-controller/cluster/clustercontroller_test.go
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func TestUpdateClusterStatusOK(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	manager := NewClusterController(federationClientSet, 5)
+	manager := newClusterController(federationClientSet, 5)
 	err = manager.UpdateClusterStatus()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("Failed to Update Cluster Status: %v", err)