diff --git a/cluster/kubectl.sh b/cluster/kubectl.sh
index 1c8e3ec59bc..7fe284b6791 100755
--- a/cluster/kubectl.sh
+++ b/cluster/kubectl.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 KUBE_ROOT=${KUBE_ROOT:-$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/..}
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kube-util.sh"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/util.sh"
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/logging.sh"
 
 # If KUBECTL_PATH isn't set, gather up the list of likely places and use ls
 # to find the latest one.
diff --git a/hack/lib/util.sh b/hack/lib/util.sh
index 1ff406d6204..67454132c99 100755
--- a/hack/lib/util.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/util.sh
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ kube::util::find-binary-for-platform() {
     "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${platform}/${lookfor}"
     "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${platform}/${lookfor}"
   )
+
   # if we're looking for the host platform, add local non-platform-qualified search paths
   if [[ "${platform}" = "$(kube::util::host_platform)" ]]; then
     locations+=(
@@ -219,6 +220,12 @@ kube::util::find-binary-for-platform() {
     );
   fi
 
+  # looks for $1 in the $PATH
+  if which "${lookfor}" >/dev/null; then
+    local -r local_bin="$(which "${lookfor}")"
+    locations+=( "${local_bin}"  );
+  fi
+
   # List most recently-updated location.
   local -r bin=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )