diff --git a/cluster/get-kube.sh b/cluster/get-kube.sh
index f74b752c1d8..2991f17b78a 100755
--- a/cluster/get-kube.sh
+++ b/cluster/get-kube.sh
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ function get_latest_version_number {
   elif [[ $(which curl) ]]; then
     curl -Ss ${latest_url}
   else
-    echo "Couldn't find curl or wget.  Bailing out."
+    echo "Couldn't find curl or wget.  Bailing out." >&2
     exit 4
   fi
 }
diff --git a/cluster/ubuntu/download-release.sh b/cluster/ubuntu/download-release.sh
index c0e22d71b59..9136dc90dc2 100755
--- a/cluster/ubuntu/download-release.sh
+++ b/cluster/ubuntu/download-release.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ grep -q "^${FLANNEL_VERSION}\$" binaries/.flannel 2>/dev/null || {
 }
 
 # ectd
-ETCD_VERSION=${ETCD_VERSION:-"2.2.1"}
+ETCD_VERSION=${ETCD_VERSION:-"2.3.1"}
 ETCD="etcd-v${ETCD_VERSION}-linux-amd64"
 echo "Prepare etcd ${ETCD_VERSION} release ..."
 grep -q "^${ETCD_VERSION}\$" binaries/.etcd 2>/dev/null || {
@@ -52,8 +52,21 @@ grep -q "^${ETCD_VERSION}\$" binaries/.etcd 2>/dev/null || {
   echo ${ETCD_VERSION} > binaries/.etcd
 }
 
+function get_latest_version_number {
+  local -r latest_url="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt"
+  if [[ $(which wget) ]]; then
+    wget -qO- ${latest_url}
+  elif [[ $(which curl) ]]; then
+    curl -Ss ${latest_url}
+  else
+    echo "Couldn't find curl or wget.  Bailing out." >&2
+    exit 4
+  fi
+}
+
+KUBE_VERSION=$(get_latest_version_number | sed 's/^v//')
+
 # k8s
-KUBE_VERSION=${KUBE_VERSION:-"1.2.0"}
 echo "Prepare kubernetes ${KUBE_VERSION} release ..."
 grep -q "^${KUBE_VERSION}\$" binaries/.kubernetes 2>/dev/null || {
   curl -L https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/download/v${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes.tar.gz -o kubernetes.tar.gz