diff --git a/cluster/common.sh b/cluster/common.sh
index 9df764ae791a..1d55439088ad 100755
--- a/cluster/common.sh
+++ b/cluster/common.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 
 DEFAULT_KUBECONFIG="${HOME}/.kube/config"
 
+# KUBE_VERSION_REGEX matches things like "v1.2.3"
+KUBE_VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$"
+
+# KUBE_CI_VERSION_REGEX matches things like "v1.2.3-alpha.4.56+abcdefg"
+KUBE_CI_VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)-(.*)$"
+
+
 # Generate kubeconfig data for the created cluster.
 # Assumed vars:
 #   KUBE_USER
@@ -224,23 +231,20 @@ function detect-master-from-kubeconfig() {
   fi
 }
 
-# Sets KUBE_VERSION variable to the version passed in as an argument, or if argument is
-# latest_stable, latest_release, or latest_ci fetches and sets the corresponding version number
+# Sets KUBE_VERSION variable to the proper version number (e.g. "v1.0.6",
+# "v1.2.0-alpha.1.881+376438b69c7612") or a version' publication of the form
+# <bucket>/<version> (e.g. "release/stable",' "ci/latest-1").
+#
+# See the docs on getting builds for more information about version
+# publication.
 #
 # Args:
 #   $1 version string from command line
 # Vars set:
 #   KUBE_VERSION
 function set_binary_version() {
-  if [[ "${1}" == "latest_stable" ]]; then
-    KUBE_VERSION=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)
-    echo "Using latest stable version: ${KUBE_VERSION}" >&2
-  elif [[ "${1}" == "latest_release" ]]; then
-    KUBE_VERSION=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/latest.txt)
-    echo "Using latest release version: ${KUBE_VERSION}" >&2
-  elif [[ "${1}" == "latest_ci" ]]; then
-    KUBE_VERSION=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/ci/latest.txt)
-    echo "Using latest ci version: ${KUBE_VERSION}" >&2
+  if [[ "${1}" =~ "/" ]]; then
+    KUBE_VERSION=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/${1}.txt)
   else
     KUBE_VERSION=${1}
   fi
@@ -251,8 +255,11 @@ function set_binary_version() {
 # use local dev binaries.
 #
 # Assumed vars:
-#   PROJECT
+#   KUBE_VERSION_REGEX
+#   KUBE_CI_VERSION_REGEX
 # Vars set:
+#   KUBE_TAR_URL
+#   KUBE_TAR_HASH
 #   SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL
 #   SERVER_BINARY_TAR_HASH
 #   SALT_TAR_URL
@@ -262,15 +269,20 @@ function tars_from_version() {
     find-release-tars
     upload-server-tars
   elif [[ ${KUBE_VERSION} =~ ${KUBE_VERSION_REGEX} ]]; then
+    KUBE_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes.tar.gz"
     SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes-server-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
     SALT_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes-salt.tar.gz"
   elif [[ ${KUBE_VERSION} =~ ${KUBE_CI_VERSION_REGEX} ]]; then
+    KUBE_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/ci/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes.tar.gz"
     SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/ci/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes-server-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
     SALT_TAR_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/ci/${KUBE_VERSION}/kubernetes-salt.tar.gz"
   else
     echo "Version doesn't match regexp" >&2
     exit 1
   fi
+  until KUBE_TAR_HASH=$(curl --fail --silent "${KUBE_TAR_URL}.sha1"); do
+    echo "Failure trying to curl release .sha1"
+  done
   until SERVER_BINARY_TAR_HASH=$(curl --fail --silent "${SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL}.sha1"); do
     echo "Failure trying to curl release .sha1"
   done
@@ -278,6 +290,10 @@ function tars_from_version() {
     echo "Failure trying to curl Salt tar .sha1"
   done
 
+  if ! curl -Ss --range 0-1 "${KUBE_TAR_URL}" >&/dev/null; then
+    echo "Can't find release at ${KUBE_TAR_URL}" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
   if ! curl -Ss --range 0-1 "${SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL}" >&/dev/null; then
     echo "Can't find release at ${SERVER_BINARY_TAR_URL}" >&2
     exit 1
diff --git a/cluster/gce/upgrade.sh b/cluster/gce/upgrade.sh
index db4a461d6534..89ad920d3900 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/upgrade.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/upgrade.sh
@@ -34,29 +34,38 @@ source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kube-util.sh"
 function usage() {
   echo "!!! EXPERIMENTAL !!!"
   echo ""
-  echo "${0} [-M|-N|-P] -l | <release or continuous integration version> | [latest_stable|latest_release|latest_ci]"
+  echo "${0} [-M|-N|-P] -l | <version number or publication>"
   echo "  Upgrades master and nodes by default"
   echo "  -M:  Upgrade master only"
   echo "  -N:  Upgrade nodes only"
   echo "  -P:  Node upgrade prerequisites only (create a new instance template)"
   echo "  -l:  Use local(dev) binaries"
   echo ""
+  echo '  Version number or publication is either a proper version number'
+  echo '  (e.g. "v1.0.6", "v1.2.0-alpha.1.881+376438b69c7612") or a version'
+  echo '  publication of the form <bucket>/<version> (e.g. "release/stable",'
+  echo '  "ci/latest-1").  Some common ones are:'
+  echo '    - "release/stable"'
+  echo '    - "release/latest"'
+  echo '    - "ci/latest"'
+  echo '  See the docs on getting builds for more information about version publication.'
+  echo ""
   echo "(... Fetching current release versions ...)"
   echo ""
 
   # NOTE: IF YOU CHANGE THE FOLLOWING LIST, ALSO UPDATE test/e2e/cluster_upgrade.go
-  local latest_release
-  local latest_stable
-  local latest_ci
-
-  latest_stable=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)
-  latest_release=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/latest.txt)
-  latest_ci=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/ci/latest.txt)
-
-  echo "To upgrade to:"
-  echo "  latest stable:  ${0} ${latest_stable}"
-  echo "  latest release: ${0} ${latest_release}"
-  echo "  latest ci:      ${0} ${latest_ci}"
+  local release_stable
+  local release_latest
+  local ci_latest
+
+  release_stable=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)
+  release_latest=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/release/latest.txt)
+  ci_latest=$(gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/ci/latest.txt)
+
+  echo "Right now, versions are as follows:"
+  echo "  release/stable: ${0} ${release_stable}"
+  echo "  release/latest: ${0} ${release_latest}"
+  echo "  ci/latest:      ${0} ${ci_latest}"
 }
 
 function upgrade-master() {
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index cacb3d89a73f..93ab4f55a7b6 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -42,13 +42,6 @@ KUBE_GCS_STAGING_PATH_SUFFIX=${KUBE_GCS_STAGING_PATH_SUFFIX-""}
 # How long (in seconds) to wait for cluster initialization.
 KUBE_CLUSTER_INITIALIZATION_TIMEOUT=${KUBE_CLUSTER_INITIALIZATION_TIMEOUT:-300}
 
-# VERSION_REGEX matches things like "v0.13.1"
-readonly KUBE_VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$"
-
-# CI_VERSION_REGEX matches things like "v0.14.1-341-ge0c9d9e"
-readonly KUBE_CI_VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)-(.*)$"
-
-
 function join_csv {
   local IFS=','; echo "$*";
 }
diff --git a/docs/admin/cluster-management.md b/docs/admin/cluster-management.md
index 8beda2f584dd..eb622c12c305 100644
--- a/docs/admin/cluster-management.md
+++ b/docs/admin/cluster-management.md
@@ -74,16 +74,7 @@ The node upgrade process is user-initiated and is described in the [GKE document
 
 Upgrades on open source Google Compute Engine (GCE) clusters are controlled by the `cluster/gce/upgrade.sh` script.
 
-Its usage is as follows:
-
-```console
-cluster/gce/upgrade.sh [-M|-N|-P] -l | <release or continuous integration version> | [latest_stable|latest_release|latest_ci]
-  Upgrades master and nodes by default
-  -M:  Upgrade master only
-  -N:  Upgrade nodes only
-  -P:  Node upgrade prerequisites only (create a new instance template)
-  -l:  Use local(dev) binaries
-```
+Get its usage by running `cluster/gce/upgrade.sh -h`.
 
 For example, to upgrade just your master to a specific version (v1.0.2):
 
@@ -94,7 +85,7 @@ cluster/gce/upgrade.sh -M v1.0.2
 Alternatively, to upgrade your entire cluster to the latest stable release:
 
 ```console
-cluster/gce/upgrade.sh latest_stable
+cluster/gce/upgrade.sh release/stable
 ```
 
 ### Other platforms
diff --git a/docs/devel/getting-builds.md b/docs/devel/getting-builds.md
index bcb981c44723..3803c873adf2 100644
--- a/docs/devel/getting-builds.md
+++ b/docs/devel/getting-builds.md
@@ -35,17 +35,27 @@ Documentation for other releases can be found at
 
 You can use [hack/get-build.sh](http://releases.k8s.io/HEAD/hack/get-build.sh) to or use as a reference on how to get the most recent builds with curl. With `get-build.sh` you can grab the most recent stable build, the most recent release candidate, or the most recent build to pass our ci and gce e2e tests (essentially a nightly build).
 
+Run `./hack/get-build.sh -h` for its usage.
+
+For example, to get a build at a specific version (v1.0.2):
+
 ```console
-usage:
-  ./hack/get-build.sh [stable|release|latest|latest-green]
+./hack/get-build.sh v1.0.2
+```
 
-        stable:        latest stable version
-        release:       latest release candidate
-        latest:        latest ci build
-        latest-green:  latest ci build to pass gce e2e
+Alternatively, to get the latest stable release:
+
+```console
+./hack/get-build.sh release/stable
+```
+
+Finally, you can just print the latest or stable version:
+
+```console
+./hack/get-build.sh -v ci/latest
 ```
 
-You can also use the gsutil tool to explore the Google Cloud Storage release bucket. Here are some examples:
+You can also use the gsutil tool to explore the Google Cloud Storage release buckets. Here are some examples:
 
 ```sh
 gsutil cat gs://kubernetes-release/ci/latest.txt          # output the latest ci version number
diff --git a/hack/get-build.sh b/hack/get-build.sh
index 22e802ba83b3..64e77f4386d8 100755
--- a/hack/get-build.sh
+++ b/hack/get-build.sh
@@ -18,53 +18,59 @@ set -o errexit
 set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
+KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
+
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/common.sh"
+
 declare -r KUBE_RELEASE_BUCKET_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release"
 declare -r KUBE_TAR_NAME="kubernetes.tar.gz"
 
 usage() {
-	echo "usage:
-  $0 [stable|release|latest|latest-green]
-
-        stable:        latest stable version
-        release:       latest release candidate
-        latest:        latest ci build
-        latest-green:  latest ci build to pass gce e2e"
+  echo "${0} [-v] <version number or publication>"
+  echo "  -v:  Don't get tars, just print the version number"
+  echo ""
+  echo '  Version number or publication is either a proper version number'
+  echo '  (e.g. "v1.0.6", "v1.2.0-alpha.1.881+376438b69c7612") or a version'
+  echo '  publication of the form <bucket>/<version> (e.g. "release/stable",'
+  echo '  "ci/latest-1").  Some common ones are:'
+  echo '    - "release/stable"'
+  echo '    - "release/latest"'
+  echo '    - "ci/latest"'
+  echo '  See the docs on getting builds for more information about version'
+  echo '  publication.'
 }
 
+print_version=false
+
+while getopts ":vh" opt; do
+  case ${opt} in
+    v)
+      print_version="true"
+      ;;
+    h)
+      usage
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    \?)
+      echo "Invalid option: -$OPTARG" >&2
+      usage
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+shift $((OPTIND-1))
+
 if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
     usage
     exit 1
 fi
 
-case "$1" in
-  "latest")
-    # latest ci version is written in the latest.txt in the /ci dir
-    KUBE_TAR_RELATIVE_PATH="ci"
-    KUBE_VERSION_FILE="latest.txt"
-    ;;
-  "latest-green")
-    # latest ci version to pass gce e2e is written in the latest-green.txt in the /ci dir
-    KUBE_TAR_RELATIVE_PATH="ci"
-    KUBE_VERSION_FILE="latest-green.txt"
-    ;;
-  "stable")
-    # latest stable release version is written in the stable.txt file in the /release dir
-    KUBE_TAR_RELATIVE_PATH="release"
-    KUBE_VERSION_FILE="stable.txt"
-    ;;
-  "release")
-    # latest release candidate version is written in latest.txt in the /release dir
-    KUBE_TAR_RELATIVE_PATH="release"
-    KUBE_VERSION_FILE="latest.txt"
-    ;;
-  *)
-    usage
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-esac
+set_binary_version ${1}
 
-KUBE_BINARY_DIRECTORY="${KUBE_RELEASE_BUCKET_URL}/${KUBE_TAR_RELATIVE_PATH}"
-KUBE_VERSION=$(curl --silent --fail "${KUBE_BINARY_DIRECTORY}/${KUBE_VERSION_FILE}")
-KUBE_BINARY_PATH="${KUBE_BINARY_DIRECTORY}/${KUBE_VERSION}/${KUBE_TAR_NAME}"
-
-curl --fail -o kubernetes-${KUBE_VERSION}.tar.gz "${KUBE_BINARY_PATH}"
+if [[ "${print_version}" == "true" ]]; then
+  echo "${KUBE_VERSION}"
+else
+  echo "Using version at ${1}: ${KUBE_VERSION}" >&2
+  tars_from_version
+  curl --fail -o kubernetes-${KUBE_VERSION}.tar.gz "${KUBE_TAR_URL}"
+fi
diff --git a/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade.go b/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade.go
index 65ecff660184..2e17d21e79be 100644
--- a/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade.go
+++ b/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -45,59 +44,14 @@ const (
 	versionURLFmt = "https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/%s/%s.txt"
 )
 
-// realVersion turns a version constant s--one accepted by cluster/gce/upgrade.sh--
-// into a deployable version string. If the s is not known to be a version
-// constant, it will assume it is already a valid version, and return s directly.
-//
-// NOTE: KEEP THIS LIST UP-TO-DATE WITH THE CODE BELOW.
-// The version strings supported are:
-// - "latest_stable"   (returns a string like "0.18.2")
-// - "latest_release"  (returns a string like "0.19.1")
-// - "latest_ci"       (returns a string like "0.19.1-669-gabac8c8")
+// realVersion turns a version constant s into a version string deployable on
+// GKE.  See hack/get-build.sh for more information.
 func realVersion(s string) (string, error) {
-	bucket, file := "", ""
-	switch s {
-	// NOTE: IF YOU CHANGE THE FOLLOWING LIST, ALSO UPDATE cluster/gce/upgrade.sh
-	case "latest_stable":
-		bucket, file = "release", "stable"
-	case "latest_release":
-		bucket, file = "release", "latest"
-	case "latest_ci":
-		bucket, file = "ci", "latest"
-	default:
-		// If we don't match one of the above, we assume that the passed version
-		// is already valid (such as "0.19.1" or "0.19.1-669-gabac8c8").
-		Logf("Assuming %q is already a valid version.", s)
-		return s, nil
-	}
-
-	url := fmt.Sprintf(versionURLFmt, bucket, file)
-	var v string
-	Logf("Fetching version from %s", url)
-	c := &http.Client{Timeout: 2 * time.Second}
-	if err := wait.Poll(poll, singleCallTimeout, func() (bool, error) {
-		r, err := c.Get(url)
-		if err != nil {
-			Logf("Error reaching %s: %v", url, err)
-			return false, nil
-		}
-		if r.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-			Logf("Bad response; status: %d, response: %v", r.StatusCode, r)
-			return false, nil
-		}
-		defer r.Body.Close()
-		b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
-		if err != nil {
-			Logf("Could not read response body: %v", err)
-			return false, nil
-		}
-		v = strings.TrimSpace(string(b))
-		return true, nil
-	}); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch real version from %s", url)
+	v, _, err := runCmd(path.Join(testContext.RepoRoot, "hack/get-build.sh"), "-v", s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return v, err
 	}
-	// Versions start with "v", so remove that.
-	return strings.TrimPrefix(v, "v"), nil
+	return strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(v), "v"), nil
 }
 
 // The following upgrade functions are passed into the framework below and used
@@ -207,7 +161,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Skipped", func() {
 			var err error
 			v, err = realVersion(testContext.UpgradeTarget)
 			expectNoError(err)
-			Logf("Version for %q is %s", testContext.UpgradeTarget, v)
+			Logf("Version for %q is %q", testContext.UpgradeTarget, v)
 
 			By("Setting up the service, RC, and pods")
 			f.beforeEach()
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
index 628c814e563e..f92b0f491815 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func init() {
 
 	flag.StringVar(&cloudConfig.ClusterTag, "cluster-tag", "", "Tag used to identify resources.  Only required if provider is aws.")
 	flag.IntVar(&testContext.MinStartupPods, "minStartupPods", 0, "The number of pods which we need to see in 'Running' state with a 'Ready' condition of true, before we try running tests. This is useful in any cluster which needs some base pod-based services running before it can be used.")
-	flag.StringVar(&testContext.UpgradeTarget, "upgrade-target", "latest_ci", "Version to upgrade to (e.g. 'latest_stable', 'latest_release', 'latest_ci', '0.19.1', '0.19.1-669-gabac8c8') if doing an upgrade test.")
+	flag.StringVar(&testContext.UpgradeTarget, "upgrade-target", "ci/latest", "Version to upgrade to (e.g. 'release/stable', 'release/latest', 'ci/latest', '0.19.1', '0.19.1-669-gabac8c8') if doing an upgrade test.")
 	flag.StringVar(&testContext.PrometheusPushGateway, "prom-push-gateway", "", "The URL to prometheus gateway, so that metrics can be pushed during e2es and scraped by prometheus. Typically something like 127.0.0.1:9091.")
 	flag.BoolVar(&testContext.VerifyServiceAccount, "e2e-verify-service-account", true, "If true tests will verify the service account before running.")
 }