diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
index 7e516215894..28a91b6a01a 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/cloud.go
@@ -38,4 +38,6 @@ type TCPLoadBalancer interface {
 
 type Instances interface {
 	IPAddress(name string) (net.IP, error)
+	// Lists instances that match 'filter' which is a regular expression which must match the entire instance name
+	List(filter string) ([]string, error)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/fake_cloud.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/fake_cloud.go
index e2b06f3aef6..b77438fe594 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/fake_cloud.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/fake_cloud.go
@@ -18,13 +18,15 @@ package cloudprovider
 
 import (
 	"net"
+	"regexp"
 )
 
 type FakeCloud struct {
-	Exists bool
-	Err    error
-	Calls  []string
-	IP     net.IP
+	Exists   bool
+	Err      error
+	Calls    []string
+	IP       net.IP
+	Machines []string
 }
 
 func (f *FakeCloud) addCall(desc string) {
@@ -66,3 +68,14 @@ func (f *FakeCloud) IPAddress(instance string) (net.IP, error) {
 	f.addCall("ip-address")
 	return f.IP, f.Err
 }
+
+func (f *FakeCloud) List(filter string) ([]string, error) {
+	f.addCall("list")
+	result := []string{}
+	for _, machine := range f.Machines {
+		if match, _ := regexp.MatchString(filter, machine); match {
+			result = append(result, machine)
+		}
+	}
+	return result, f.Err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/gce.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/gce.go
index 1b1667737d0..83dee9ab431 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/gce.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/gce.go
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 type GCECloud struct {
-	service   *compute.Service
-	projectID string
-	zone      string
+	service    *compute.Service
+	projectID  string
+	zone       string
+	instanceRE string
 }
 
 func getProjectAndZone() (string, string, error) {
@@ -179,3 +180,19 @@ func (gce *GCECloud) IPAddress(instance string) (net.IP, error) {
 	}
 	return ip, nil
 }
+
+func (gce *GCECloud) List(filter string) ([]string, error) {
+	listCall := gce.service.Instances.List(gce.projectID, gce.zone)
+	if len(filter) > 0 {
+		listCall = listCall.Filter("name eq " + filter)
+	}
+	res, err := listCall.Do()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	var instances []string
+	for _, instance := range res.Items {
+		instances = append(instances, instance.Name)
+	}
+	return instances, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry.go b/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3a158fabc6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry.go
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 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.
+*/
+
+package registry
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/cloudprovider"
+)
+
+type CloudMinionRegistry struct {
+	cloud   cloudprovider.Interface
+	matchRE string
+}
+
+func MakeCloudMinionRegistry(cloud cloudprovider.Interface, matchRE string) (*CloudMinionRegistry, error) {
+	return &CloudMinionRegistry{
+		cloud:   cloud,
+		matchRE: matchRE,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (c *CloudMinionRegistry) List() ([]string, error) {
+	instances, ok := c.cloud.Instances()
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cloud doesn't support instances")
+	}
+
+	return instances.List(c.matchRE)
+}
+
+func (c *CloudMinionRegistry) Insert(minion string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("unsupported")
+}
+
+func (c *CloudMinionRegistry) Delete(minion string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("unsupported")
+}
+
+func (c *CloudMinionRegistry) Contains(minion string) (bool, error) {
+	instances, err := c.List()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	for _, name := range instances {
+		if name == minion {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return false, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry_test.go b/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..80ea49075ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/registry/cloud_minion_registry_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 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.
+*/
+
+package registry
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/cloudprovider"
+)
+
+func TestCloudList(t *testing.T) {
+	instances := []string{"m1", "m2"}
+	fakeCloud := cloudprovider.FakeCloud{
+		Machines: instances,
+	}
+	registry, err := MakeCloudMinionRegistry(&fakeCloud, ".*")
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+
+	list, err := registry.List()
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(list, instances) {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected inequality: %#v, %#v", list, instances)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCloudContains(t *testing.T) {
+	instances := []string{"m1", "m2"}
+	fakeCloud := cloudprovider.FakeCloud{
+		Machines: instances,
+	}
+	registry, err := MakeCloudMinionRegistry(&fakeCloud, ".*")
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+
+	contains, err := registry.Contains("m1")
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+	if !contains {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected !contains")
+	}
+
+	contains, err = registry.Contains("m100")
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+	if contains {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected contains")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCloudListRegexp(t *testing.T) {
+	instances := []string{"m1", "m2", "n1", "n2"}
+	fakeCloud := cloudprovider.FakeCloud{
+		Machines: instances,
+	}
+	registry, err := MakeCloudMinionRegistry(&fakeCloud, "m[0-9]+")
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+
+	list, err := registry.List()
+	expectNoError(t, err)
+	expectedList := []string{"m1", "m2"}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(list, expectedList) {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected inequality: %#v, %#v", list, expectedList)
+	}
+}