diff --git a/cluster/get-kube-binaries.sh b/cluster/get-kube-binaries.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e158d3bafe3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/get-kube-binaries.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright 2016 The Kubernetes Authors.
+#
+# 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.
+
+# This script downloads and installs the Kubernetes client and server binaries.
+# It is intended to be called from an extracted Kubernetes release tarball.
+#
+# We automatically choose the correct client binaries to download.
+#
+# Options:
+#  Set KUBERNETES_SERVER_ARCH to choose the server (Kubernetes cluster)
+#  architecture to download:
+#    * amd64 [default]
+#    * arm
+#    * arm64
+#    * ppc64le
+#
+#  Set KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM to skip the installation confirmation prompt.
+#  Set KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL to choose where to download binaries from.
+#    (Defaults to https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release).
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+KUBE_ROOT=$(cd $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/.. && pwd)
+
+KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL="${KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL:-https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release}"
+
+function detect_kube_release() {
+  if [[ ! -e "${KUBE_ROOT}/version" ]]; then
+    echo "Can't determine Kubernetes release." >&2
+    echo "This script should only be run from a prebuilt Kubernetes release." >&2
+    echo "Did you mean to use get-kube.sh instead?" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  KUBERNETES_RELEASE=$(cat "${KUBE_ROOT}/version")
+  DOWNLOAD_URL_PREFIX="${KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL}/${KUBERNETES_RELEASE}"
+}
+
+function detect_client_info() {
+  local kernel=$(uname -s)
+  case "${kernel}" in
+    Darwin)
+      CLIENT_PLATFORM="darwin"
+      ;;
+    Linux)
+      CLIENT_PLATFORM="linux"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Unknown, unsupported platform: ${kernel}." >&2
+      echo "Supported platforms: Linux, Darwin." >&2
+      echo "Bailing out." >&2
+      exit 2
+  esac
+
+  # TODO: migrate the kube::util::host_platform function out of hack/lib and
+  # use it here.
+  local machine=$(uname -m)
+  case "${machine}" in
+    x86_64*|i?86_64*|amd64*)
+      CLIENT_ARCH="amd64"
+      ;;
+    aarch64*|arm64*)
+      CLIENT_ARCH="arm64"
+      ;;
+    arm*)
+      CLIENT_ARCH="arm"
+      ;;
+    i?86*)
+      CLIENT_ARCH="386"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "Unknown, unsupported architecture (${machine})." >&2
+      echo "Supported architectures x86_64, i686, arm, arm64." >&2
+      echo "Bailing out." >&2
+      exit 3
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+function md5sum_file() {
+  if which md5 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    md5 -q "$1"
+  else
+    md5sum "$1" | awk '{ print $1 }'
+  fi
+}
+
+function sha1sum_file() {
+  if which shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    shasum -a1 "$1" | awk '{ print $1 }'
+  else
+    sha1sum "$1" | awk '{ print $1 }'
+  fi
+}
+
+function download_tarball() {
+  local -r download_path="$1"
+  local -r file="$2"
+  url="${DOWNLOAD_URL_PREFIX}/${file}"
+  mkdir -p "${download_path}"
+  if [[ $(which curl) ]]; then
+    curl -L "${url}" -o "${download_path}/${file}"
+  elif [[ $(which wget) ]]; then
+    wget "${url}" -O "${download_path}/${file}"
+  else
+    echo "Couldn't find curl or wget.  Bailing out." >&2
+    exit 4
+  fi
+  echo
+  local md5sum=$(md5sum_file "${download_path}/${file}")
+  echo "md5sum(${file})=${md5sum}"
+  local sha1sum=$(sha1sum_file "${download_path}/${file}")
+  echo "sha1sum(${file})=${sha1sum}"
+  echo
+  # TODO: add actual verification
+}
+
+function extract_tarball() {
+  local -r tarfile="$1"
+  local -r platform="$2"
+  local -r arch="$3"
+
+  platforms_dir="${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${platform}/${arch}"
+  echo "Extracting ${tarfile} into ${platforms_dir}"
+  mkdir -p "${platforms_dir}"
+  # Tarball looks like kubernetes/{client,server}/bin/BINARY"
+  tar -xzf "${tarfile}" --strip-components 3 -C "${platforms_dir}"
+  # Create convenience symlink
+  ln -sf "${platforms_dir}" "$(dirname ${tarfile})/bin"
+  echo "Add '$(dirname ${tarfile})/bin' to your PATH to use newly-installed binaries."
+}
+
+detect_kube_release
+
+SERVER_PLATFORM="linux"
+SERVER_ARCH="${KUBERNETES_SERVER_ARCH:-amd64}"
+SERVER_TAR="kubernetes-server-${SERVER_PLATFORM}-${SERVER_ARCH}.tar.gz"
+
+detect_client_info
+CLIENT_TAR="kubernetes-client-${CLIENT_PLATFORM}-${CLIENT_ARCH}.tar.gz"
+
+echo "Kubernetes release: ${KUBERNETES_RELEASE}"
+echo "Server: ${SERVER_PLATFORM}/${SERVER_ARCH}"
+echo "Client: ${CLIENT_PLATFORM}/${CLIENT_ARCH}"
+echo
+
+# TODO: remove this check and default to true when we stop shipping server
+# tarballs in kubernetes.tar.gz
+DOWNLOAD_SERVER_TAR=false
+if [[ ! -e "${KUBE_ROOT}/server/${SERVER_TAR}" ]]; then
+  DOWNLOAD_SERVER_TAR=true
+  echo "Will download ${SERVER_TAR} from ${DOWNLOAD_URL_PREFIX}"
+fi
+
+# TODO: remove this check and default to true when we stop shipping kubectl
+# in kubernetes.tar.gz
+DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_TAR=false
+if [[ ! -x "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${CLIENT_PLATFORM}/${CLIENT_ARCH}/kubectl" ]]; then
+  DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_TAR=true
+  echo "Will download and extract ${CLIENT_TAR} from ${DOWNLOAD_URL_PREFIX}"
+fi
+
+if [[ "${DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_TAR}" == false && "${DOWNLOAD_SERVER_TAR}" == false ]]; then
+  echo "Nothing additional to download."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM-}" ]]; then
+  echo "Is this ok? [Y]/n"
+  read confirm
+  if [[ "${confirm}" =~ ^[nN]$ ]]; then
+    echo "Aborting."
+    exit 0
+  fi
+fi
+
+if "${DOWNLOAD_SERVER_TAR}"; then
+download_tarball "${KUBE_ROOT}/server" "${SERVER_TAR}"
+fi
+
+if "${DOWNLOAD_CLIENT_TAR}"; then
+  download_tarball "${KUBE_ROOT}/client" "${CLIENT_TAR}"
+  extract_tarball "${KUBE_ROOT}/client/${CLIENT_TAR}" "${CLIENT_PLATFORM}" "${CLIENT_ARCH}"
+fi
diff --git a/cluster/get-kube.sh b/cluster/get-kube.sh
index 01464f9dae5..4d91c96ac50 100755
--- a/cluster/get-kube.sh
+++ b/cluster/get-kube.sh
@@ -43,14 +43,43 @@
 #  OpenStack-Heat
 #   * export KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=openstack-heat; wget -q -O - https://get.k8s.io | bash
 #
-#  Set KUBERNETES_SKIP_DOWNLOAD to non-empty to skip downloading a release.
+#  Set KUBERNETES_RELEASE to choose a specific release instead of the current
+#    stable release, (e.g. 'v1.3.7').
+#    See https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases for release options.
+#  Set KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL to choose where to download binaries from.
+#    (Defaults to https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release).
+#
+#  Set KUBERNETES_SERVER_ARCH to choose the server (Kubernetes cluster)
+#  architecture to download:
+#    * amd64 [default]
+#    * arm
+#    * arm64
+#
+#  Set KUBERNETES_SKIP_DOWNLOAD to skip downloading a release.
 #  Set KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM to skip the installation confirmation prompt.
-#  Set KUBERNETES_RELEASE to the release you want to use (e.g. 'v1.2.0'). See https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases for release options
+#  Set KUBERNETES_SKIP_CREATE_CLUSTER to skip starting a cluster.
+
 set -o errexit
 set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
+KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL="${KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL:-https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release}"
+
+# Use the script from inside the Kubernetes tarball to fetch the client and
+# server binaries (if not included in kubernetes.tar.gz).
+function download_kube_binaries {
+  (
+    cd kubernetes
+    if [[ -x ./cluster/get-kube-binaries.sh ]]; then
+      ./cluster/get-kube-binaries.sh
+    fi
+  )
+}
+
 function create_cluster {
+  if [[ -n "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CREATE_CLUSTER}" ]]; then
+    exit 0
+  fi
   echo "Creating a kubernetes on ${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER:-gce}..."
   (
     cd kubernetes
@@ -64,16 +93,16 @@ function create_cluster {
   )
 }
 
-if [[ "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_DOWNLOAD-}" ]]; then
+if [[ -n "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_DOWNLOAD-}" ]]; then
   create_cluster
   exit 0
 fi
 
 if [[ -d "./kubernetes" ]]; then
-  if [[ -n "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM-}" ]]; then
+  if [[ -z "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM-}" ]]; then
     echo "'kubernetes' directory already exist. Should we skip download step and start to create cluster based on it? [Y]/n"
     read confirm
-    if [[ "$confirm" == "y" ]]; then
+    if [[ ! "${confirm}" =~ ^[nN]$ ]]; then
       echo "Skipping download step."
       create_cluster
       exit 0
@@ -94,54 +123,65 @@ function get_latest_version_number {
 }
 
 release=${KUBERNETES_RELEASE:-$(get_latest_version_number)}
-release_url=https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${release}/kubernetes.tar.gz
+release_url="${KUBERNETES_RELEASE_URL}/${release}/kubernetes.tar.gz"
 
-uname=$(uname)
-if [[ "${uname}" == "Darwin" ]]; then
-  platform="darwin"
-elif [[ "${uname}" == "Linux" ]]; then
-  platform="linux"
-else
-  echo "Unknown, unsupported platform: (${uname})."
-  echo "Supported platforms: Linux, Darwin."
-  echo "Bailing out."
-  exit 2
-fi
+# TODO: remove client checks once kubernetes.tar.gz no longer includes client
+# binaries by default.
+kernel=$(uname -s)
+case "${kernel}" in
+  Darwin)
+    platform="darwin"
+    ;;
+  Linux)
+    platform="linux"
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "Unknown, unsupported platform: ${kernel}." >&2
+    echo "Supported platforms: Linux, Darwin." >&2
+    echo "Bailing out." >&2
+    exit 2
+esac
 
 machine=$(uname -m)
-if [[ "${machine}" == "x86_64" ]]; then
-  arch="amd64"
-elif [[ "${machine}" == "i686" ]]; then
-  arch="386"
-elif [[ "${machine}" == "arm*" ]]; then
-  arch="arm"
-elif [[ "${machine}" == "s390x*" ]]; then
-  arch="s390x"
-elif [[ "${machine}" == "ppc64le" ]]; then
-  arch="ppc64le"
-else
-  echo "Unknown, unsupported architecture (${machine})."
-  echo "Supported architectures x86_64, i686, arm, s390x, ppc64le."
-  echo "Bailing out."
-  exit 3
-fi
+case "${machine}" in
+  x86_64*|i?86_64*|amd64*)
+    arch="amd64"
+    ;;
+  aarch64*|arm64*)
+    arch="arm64"
+    ;;
+  arm*)
+    arch="arm"
+    ;;
+  i?86*)
+    arch="386"
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "Unknown, unsupported architecture (${machine})." >&2
+    echo "Supported architectures x86_64, i686, arm, arm64." >&2
+    echo "Bailing out." >&2
+    exit 3
+    ;;
+esac
 
 file=kubernetes.tar.gz
 
-echo "Downloading kubernetes release ${release} to ${PWD}/kubernetes.tar.gz"
-if [[ -n "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM-}" ]]; then
+echo "Downloading kubernetes release ${release}"
+echo "  from ${release_url}"
+echo "  to ${PWD}/kubernetes.tar.gz"
+if [[ -z "${KUBERNETES_SKIP_CONFIRM-}" ]]; then
   echo "Is this ok? [Y]/n"
   read confirm
-  if [[ "$confirm" == "n" ]]; then
+  if [[ "${confirm}" =~ ^[nN]$ ]]; then
     echo "Aborting."
     exit 0
   fi
 fi
 
-if [[ $(which wget) ]]; then
-  wget -N ${release_url}
-elif [[ $(which curl) ]]; then
+if [[ $(which curl) ]]; then
   curl -L -z ${file} ${release_url} -o ${file}
+elif [[ $(which wget) ]]; then
+  wget -N ${release_url}
 else
   echo "Couldn't find curl or wget.  Bailing out."
   exit 1
@@ -150,4 +190,5 @@ fi
 echo "Unpacking kubernetes release ${release}"
 tar -xzf ${file}
 
+download_kube_binaries
 create_cluster