diff --git a/hack/lib/util.sh b/hack/lib/util.sh
index 980f77dda5f..60a9fac0471 100644
--- a/hack/lib/util.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/util.sh
@@ -96,6 +96,18 @@ kube::util::host_platform() {
   echo "${host_os}/${host_arch}"
 }
 
+kube::util::find-binary() {
+  local lookfor="${1}"
+  local host_platform="$(kube::util::host_platform)"
+  local locations=(
+    "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_platform}/${lookfor}"
+    "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_platform}/${lookfor}"
+    "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_platform}/${lookfor}"
+  )
+  local bin=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
+  echo -n "${bin}"
+}
+
 # Wait for background jobs to finish. Return with
 # an error status if any of the jobs failed.
 kube::util::wait-for-jobs() {
diff --git a/hack/run-gendocs.sh b/hack/run-gendocs.sh
index 2676714eaa7..3c922788a0e 100755
--- a/hack/run-gendocs.sh
+++ b/hack/run-gendocs.sh
@@ -30,61 +30,10 @@ get_absolute_dirname() {
   echo "$(cd "$(dirname "$1")" && pwd)"
 }
 
-# Detect the OS name/arch so that we can find our binary
-case "$(uname -s)" in
-  Darwin)
-    host_os=darwin
-    ;;
-  Linux)
-    host_os=linux
-    ;;
-  *)
-    echo "Unsupported host OS.  Must be Linux or Mac OS X." >&2
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-
-case "$(uname -m)" in
-  x86_64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  i?86_64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  amd64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  arm*)
-    host_arch=arm
-    ;;
-  i?86*)
-    host_arch=x86
-    ;;
-  *)
-    echo "Unsupported host arch. Must be x86_64, 386 or arm." >&2
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-
 # Find binary
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-)
-gendocs=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-)
-genman=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-)
-genbashcomp=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
+gendocs=$(kube::util::find-binary "gendocs")
+genman=$(kube::util::find-binary "genman")
+genbashcomp=$(kube::util::find-binary "genbashcomp")
 
 if [[ ! -x "$gendocs" || ! -x "$genman" || ! -x "$genbashcomp" ]]; then
   {
diff --git a/hack/verify-gendocs.sh b/hack/verify-gendocs.sh
index a663a2ceafc..77c1a79c471 100755
--- a/hack/verify-gendocs.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-gendocs.sh
@@ -30,63 +30,9 @@ get_absolute_dirname() {
   echo "$(cd "$(dirname "$1")" && pwd)"
 }
 
-# Detect the OS name/arch so that we can find our binary
-case "$(uname -s)" in
-  Darwin)
-    host_os=darwin
-    ;;
-  Linux)
-    host_os=linux
-    ;;
-  *)
-    echo "Unsupported host OS.  Must be Linux or Mac OS X." >&2
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-
-case "$(uname -m)" in
-  x86_64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  i?86_64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  amd64*)
-    host_arch=amd64
-    ;;
-  arm*)
-    host_arch=arm
-    ;;
-  i?86*)
-    host_arch=x86
-    ;;
-  *)
-    echo "Unsupported host arch. Must be x86_64, 386 or arm." >&2
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
-
-# Find binary
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/gendocs"
-)
-gendocs=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
-
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genman"
-)
-genman=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
-
-locations=(
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/dockerized/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/_output/local/bin/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-  "${KUBE_ROOT}/platforms/${host_os}/${host_arch}/genbashcomp"
-)
-genbashcomp=$( (ls -t "${locations[@]}" 2>/dev/null || true) | head -1 )
+gendocs=$(kube::util::find-binary "gendocs")
+genman=$(kube::util::find-binary "genman")
+genbashcomp=$(kube::util::find-binary "genbashcomp")
 
 if [[ ! -x "$gendocs" || ! -x "$genman" || ! -x "$genbashcomp" ]]; then
   {