diff --git a/build/root/Makefile b/build/root/Makefile
index d0d69ab1602..de60c5edb4b 100644
--- a/build/root/Makefile
+++ b/build/root/Makefile
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ define TEST_E2E_NODE_HELP_INFO
 #  GUBERNATOR: For REMOTE=true only. Produce link to Gubernator to view logs.
 #    Defaults to false.
 #  TEST_SUITE: For REMOTE=true only. Test suite to use. Defaults to "default".
+#  SSH_KEY: For REMOTE=true only. Path to SSH key to use.
 #
 # Example:
 #   make test-e2e-node FOCUS=Kubelet SKIP=container
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
index f72ced2a4f0..c6adb8b1b4b 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ timeout_arg=""
 system_spec_name=${SYSTEM_SPEC_NAME:-}
 extra_envs=${EXTRA_ENVS:-}
 runtime_config=${RUNTIME_CONFIG:-}
+ssh_user=${SSH_USER:-"${USER}"}
+ssh_key=${SSH_KEY:-}
 
 # Parse the flags to pass to ginkgo
 ginkgoflags=""
@@ -170,6 +172,7 @@ if [ "${remote}" = true ] ; then
     --delete-instances="${delete_instances}" --test_args="${test_args}" --instance-metadata="${metadata}" \
     --image-config-file="${image_config_file}" --system-spec-name="${system_spec_name}" \
     --runtime-config="${runtime_config}" --preemptible-instances="${preemptible_instances}" \
+    --ssh-user="${ssh_user}" --ssh-key="${ssh_key}" \
     --extra-envs="${extra_envs}" --test-suite="${test_suite}" \
     "${timeout_arg}" \
     2>&1 | tee -i "${artifacts}/build-log.txt"
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go b/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
index 87a069a871f..eefa1000924 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/remote/ssh.go
@@ -44,8 +44,12 @@ func init() {
 	sshOptionsMap = map[string]string{
 		"gce": "-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o CheckHostIP=no -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ServerAliveInterval=30 -o LogLevel=ERROR",
 	}
+	defaultGceKey := os.Getenv("GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE")
+	if defaultGceKey == "" {
+		defaultGceKey = fmt.Sprintf("%s/.ssh/google_compute_engine", usr.HomeDir)
+	}
 	sshDefaultKeyMap = map[string]string{
-		"gce": fmt.Sprintf("%s/.ssh/google_compute_engine", usr.HomeDir),
+		"gce": defaultGceKey,
 	}
 }