diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/init.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/init.sls
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..44460c4134f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/init.sls
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{% if grains['cloud'] is defined and grains['cloud'] == 'aws' %}
+/usr/share/google/safe_format_and_mount:
+  file.managed:
+    - source: salt://helpers/safe_format_and_mount
+    - user: root
+    - group: root
+    - mode: 755
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/safe_format_and_mount b/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/safe_format_and_mount
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9675a69103d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/helpers/safe_format_and_mount
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+# Copyright 2013 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Mount a disk, formatting it if necessary.  If the disk looks like it may
+# have been formatted before, we will not format it.
+#
+# This script uses blkid and file to search for magic "formatted" bytes
+# at the beginning of the disk.  Furthermore, it attempts to use fsck to
+# repair the filesystem before formatting it.
+
+FSCK=fsck.ext4
+MOUNT_OPTIONS="discard,defaults"
+MKFS="mkfs.ext4 -E lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0 -F"
+if grep -q '6\..' /etc/redhat-release; then
+  # lazy_journal_init is not recognized in redhat 6
+  MKFS="mkfs.ext4 -E lazy_itable_init=0 -F"
+elif grep -q '7\..' /etc/redhat-release; then
+  FSCK=fsck.xfs
+  MKFS=mkfs.xfs
+fi
+
+LOGTAG=safe_format_and_mount
+LOGFACILITY=user
+
+function log() {
+  local readonly severity=$1; shift;
+  logger -t ${LOGTAG} -p ${LOGFACILITY}.${severity} -s "$@"
+}
+
+function log_command() {
+  local readonly log_file=$(mktemp)
+  local readonly retcode
+  log info "Running: $*"
+  $* > ${log_file} 2>&1
+  retcode=$?
+  # only return the last 1000 lines of the logfile, just in case it's HUGE.
+  tail -1000 ${log_file} | logger -t ${LOGTAG} -p ${LOGFACILITY}.info -s
+  rm -f ${log_file}
+  return ${retcode}
+}
+
+function help() {
+  cat >&2 <<EOF
+$0 [-f fsck_cmd] [-m mkfs_cmd] [-o mount_opts] <device> <mountpoint>
+EOF
+  exit 0
+}
+
+while getopts ":hf:o:m:" opt; do
+  case $opt in
+    h) help;;
+    f) FSCK=$OPTARG;;
+    o) MOUNT_OPTIONS=$OPTARG;;
+    m) MKFS=$OPTARG;;
+    -) break;;
+    \?) log error "Invalid option: -${OPTARG}"; exit 1;;
+    :) log "Option -${OPTARG} requires an argument."; exit 1;;
+  esac
+done
+
+shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
+readonly DISK=$1
+readonly MOUNTPOINT=$2
+
+[[ -z ${DISK} ]] && help
+[[ -z ${MOUNTPOINT} ]] && help
+
+function disk_looks_unformatted() {
+  blkid ${DISK}
+  if [[ $? == 0 ]]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  local readonly file_type=$(file --special-files ${DISK})
+  case ${file_type} in
+    *filesystem*)
+      return 0;;
+  esac
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+function format_disk() {
+  log_command ${MKFS} ${DISK}
+}
+
+function try_repair_disk() {
+  log_command ${FSCK} -a ${DISK}
+  local readonly fsck_return=$?
+  if [[ ${fsck_return} -ge 8 ]]; then
+    log error "Fsck could not correct errors on ${DISK}"
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [[ ${fsck_return} -gt 0 ]]; then
+    log warning "Fsck corrected errors on ${DISK}"
+  fi
+  return 0
+}
+
+function try_mount() {
+  local mount_retcode
+  try_repair_disk
+
+  log_command mount -o ${MOUNT_OPTIONS} ${DISK} ${MOUNTPOINT}
+  mount_retcode=$?
+  if [[ ${mount_retcode} == 0 ]]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # Check to see if it looks like a filesystem before formatting it.
+  disk_looks_unformatted ${DISK}
+  if [[ $? == 0 ]]; then
+    log error "Disk ${DISK} looks formatted but won't mount.  Giving up."
+    return ${mount_retcode}
+  fi
+
+  # The disk looks like it's not been formatted before.
+  format_disk
+  if [[ $? != 0 ]]; then
+    log error "Format of ${DISK} failed."
+  fi
+
+  log_command mount -o ${MOUNT_OPTIONS} ${DISK} ${MOUNTPOINT}
+  mount_retcode=$?
+  if [[ ${mount_retcode} == 0 ]]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+  log error "Tried everything we could, but could not mount ${DISK}."
+  return ${mount_retcode}
+}
+
+try_mount
+exit $?
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/top.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/top.sls
index cfa15440836..5e808f7faf0 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/top.sls
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/top.sls
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ base:
 {% else %}
     - sdn
 {% endif %}
+    - helpers
     - cadvisor
     - kubelet
     - kube-proxy