diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
index 2e5c95ae264..c82bfa30599 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ if [ $remote = true ] ; then
   test_suite=${TEST_SUITE:-"default"}
 
   # Get the compute zone
-  zone=$(gcloud info --format='value(config.properties.compute.zone)')
+  zone=${ZONE:-"$(gcloud info --format='value(config.properties.compute.zone)')"}
   if [[ $zone == "" ]]; then
     echo "Could not find gcloud compute/zone when running: \`gcloud info --format='value(config.properties.compute.zone)'\`"
     exit 1