diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
index dff89472132..2da168ff265 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ system_spec_name=${SYSTEM_SPEC_NAME:-}
 extra_envs=${EXTRA_ENVS:-}
 runtime_config=${RUNTIME_CONFIG:-}
 ssh_user=${SSH_USER:-${USER}}
-ssh_key=${SSH_KEY:-${GCE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE:-${USER}/.ssh/google_compute_engine}}
+ssh_key=${SSH_KEY:-}
 
 # Parse the flags to pass to ginkgo
 ginkgoflags=""
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,
 	}
 }