diff --git a/build/cluster.js b/build/cluster.js
index b2907b64d9de49de5409ebf792ddb5b55cabd635..5f57c11b139420a18259564eacd96c6597c7ee1f 100644
--- a/build/cluster.js
+++ b/build/cluster.js
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ const stableVersion = 'v1.1.1';
 const tarballUrl = 'https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release';
 const upScript = `${conf.paths.kubernetes}/hack/local-up-cluster.sh`;
 
+/**
+ * The healthz URL of the cluster to check that it is running.
+ */
+const clusterHealthzUrl = `http://${conf.backend.apiServerHost}/healthz`;
+
 /**
  * Currently running cluster process object. Null if the cluster is not running.
  *
@@ -75,7 +80,7 @@ function checkForClusterFailure(doneFn) {
  * @param {function(?Error=)} doneFn
  */
 function clusterHealthCheck(doneFn) {
-  childProcess.exec(`curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/healthz/ping`, function(err, stdout) {
+  childProcess.exec(`curl ${clusterHealthzUrl}`, function(err, stdout) {
     if (err) {
       return doneFn(new Error(err));
     }
@@ -210,7 +215,9 @@ gulp.task('wait-for-cluster', function(doneFn) {
 
   function isRunning() {
     if (counter % 10 === 0) {
-      gulpUtil.log(gulpUtil.colors.magenta(`Waiting for a kubernetes cluster on port 8080...`));
+      gulpUtil.log(
+          gulpUtil.colors.magenta(
+              `Waiting for a Kubernetes cluster on ${conf.backend.apiServerHost}...`));
     }
     counter += 1;
 
@@ -219,7 +226,7 @@ gulp.task('wait-for-cluster', function(doneFn) {
     // constantly query the cluster until it is properly running
     clusterHealthCheck(function(result) {
       if (result === 'ok') {
-        gulpUtil.log(gulpUtil.colors.magenta("Kubernetes cluster is up and running."));
+        gulpUtil.log(gulpUtil.colors.magenta('Kubernetes cluster is up and running.'));
         clearTimeout(isRunningSetIntervalHandler);
         isRunningSetIntervalHandler = null;
         doneFn();
@@ -236,8 +243,8 @@ gulp.task(
     'kubeconfig-set-cluster-local', ['download-kubectl', 'checkout-kubernetes-version'],
     function(doneFn) {
       executeKubectlCommand(
-          'config set-cluster local --server=http://127.0.0.1:8080 ' +
-              '--insecure-skip-tls-verify=true',
+          `config set-cluster local --server=http://${conf.backend.apiServerHost}` +
+              `--insecure-skip-tls-verify=true`,
           doneFn);
     });
 
diff --git a/build/conf.js b/build/conf.js
index 55edd7cbc710371b2f9ad1cafe4eb8d47e9f9cc4..e93324ee9d30296c74982d5e5f1cc1db6e5bc80e 100644
--- a/build/conf.js
+++ b/build/conf.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ export default {
     /**
     * Address for the Kubernetes API server.
     */
-    apiServerHost: 'http://localhost:8080',
+    apiServerHost: 'localhost:8080',
   },
 
   /**
diff --git a/build/serve.js b/build/serve.js
index 797d1582bbad3714151a371368353eb700571c75..268fd741f890c562769b97fcc585bc3631d06478 100644
--- a/build/serve.js
+++ b/build/serve.js
@@ -113,7 +113,10 @@ gulp.task('serve:prod', ['spawn-backend:prod']);
 gulp.task('spawn-backend', ['backend', 'kill-backend'], function() {
   runningBackendProcess = child.spawn(
       path.join(conf.paths.serve, conf.backend.binaryName),
-      [`--apiserver-host=${conf.backend.apiServerHost}`, `--port=${conf.backend.devServerPort}`],
+      [
+        `--apiserver-host=http://${conf.backend.apiServerHost}`,
+        `--port=${conf.backend.devServerPort}`,
+      ],
       {stdio: 'inherit'});
 
   runningBackendProcess.on('exit', function() {
@@ -130,7 +133,10 @@ gulp.task('spawn-backend', ['backend', 'kill-backend'], function() {
 gulp.task('spawn-backend:prod', ['build-frontend', 'backend:prod', 'kill-backend'], function() {
   runningBackendProcess = child.spawn(
       path.join(conf.paths.dist, conf.backend.binaryName),
-      [`--apiserver-host=${conf.backend.apiServerHost}`, `--port=${conf.frontend.serverPort}`],
+      [
+        `--apiserver-host=http://${conf.backend.apiServerHost}`,
+        `--port=${conf.frontend.serverPort}`,
+      ],
       {stdio: 'inherit', cwd: conf.paths.dist});
 
   runningBackendProcess.on('exit', function() {