diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index cad060c575e..e357a7eb3f5 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -114,14 +114,12 @@ function create-master-auth {
     echo "${KUBELET_TOKEN},kubelet,kubelet" >> "${known_tokens_csv}"
     echo "${KUBE_PROXY_TOKEN},kube_proxy,kube_proxy" >> "${known_tokens_csv}"
   fi
-  # Do not create /etc/gce.conf unless specified.
-  if [[ -z ${CLOUD_CONFIG:-} ]]; then
-    return
-  fi
+  local use_cloud_config="false"
   cat <<EOF >/etc/gce.conf
 [global]
 EOF
   if [[ -n "${PROJECT_ID:-}" && -n "${TOKEN_URL:-}" && -n "${TOKEN_BODY:-}" && -n "${NODE_NETWORK:-}" ]]; then
+    use_cloud_config="true"
     cat <<EOF >>/etc/gce.conf
 token-url = ${TOKEN_URL}
 token-body = ${TOKEN_BODY}
@@ -130,15 +128,20 @@ network-name = ${NODE_NETWORK}
 EOF
   fi
   if [[ -n "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:-}" ]]; then
+    use_cloud_config="true"
     cat <<EOF >>/etc/gce.conf
 node-tags = ${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}
 EOF
   fi
   if [[ -n "${MULTIZONE:-}" ]]; then
+    use_cloud_config="true"
     cat <<EOF >>/etc/gce.conf
 multizone = ${MULTIZONE}
 EOF
   fi
+  if [[ "${use_cloud_config}" != "true" ]]; then
+    rm -f /etc/gce.conf
+  fi
 }
 
 function create-kubelet-kubeconfig {
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
index 5c62780c22f..5cf02455b51 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure.sh
@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@ Broken (or in progress) Kubernetes node setup! Check the cluster initialization
 using the following commands.
 
 Master instance:
-  - systemctl status kube-master-installation
-  - systemctl status kube-master-configuration
+  - sudo systemctl status kube-master-installation
+  - sudo systemctl status kube-master-configuration
 
 Node instance:
-  - systemctl status kube-node-installation
-  - systemctl status kube-node-configuration
+  - sudo systemctl status kube-node-installation
+  - sudo systemctl status kube-node-configuration
 EOF
 }