diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index c395b9dd839bb..83b2c369b7ae2 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ function verify-prereqs {
         echo "SDK can be downloaded from https://cloud.google.com/sdk/."
         exit 1
       fi
-    fi 
+    fi
   done
   # update and install components as needed
   if [[ "${KUBE_PROMPT_FOR_UPDATE}" != "y" ]]; then
@@ -672,11 +672,12 @@ function kube-up {
   # Basic sanity checking
   local i
   local rc # Capture return code without exiting because of errexit bash option
+  local pause_pod="google_containers/pause"
   for (( i=0; i<${#MINION_NAMES[@]}; i++)); do
       # Make sure docker is installed and working.
       local attempt=0
       while true; do
-        echo -n Attempt "$(($attempt+1))" to check Docker on node "${MINION_NAMES[$i]}" ...
+        echo -n Attempt "$(($attempt+1))" to check Docker and pause pod on node "${MINION_NAMES[$i]}" ...
         local output=$(gcloud compute --project "${PROJECT}" ssh --zone "$ZONE" "${MINION_NAMES[$i]}" --command "sudo docker ps -a" 2>/dev/null)
         if [[ -z "${output}" ]]; then
           if (( attempt > 9 )); then
@@ -686,10 +687,10 @@ function kube-up {
             echo -e "cluster. (sorry!)${color_norm}" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
-        elif [[ "${output}" != *"kubernetes/pause"* ]]; then
+        elif [[ ! `echo "${output}" | grep "${pause_pod}"` ]]; then
           if (( attempt > 9 )); then
             echo
-            echo -e "${color_red}Failed to observe kubernetes/pause on node ${MINION_NAMES[$i]}. Your cluster is unlikely" >&2
+            echo -e "${color_red}Failed to observe ${pause_pod} on node ${MINION_NAMES[$i]}. Your cluster is unlikely" >&2
             echo "to work correctly. Please run ./cluster/kube-down.sh and re-create the" >&2
             echo -e "cluster. (sorry!)${color_norm}" >&2
             exit 1