diff --git a/cmd/helm/helm.go b/cmd/helm/helm.go
index 926e5e6d8..ce3385cb3 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/helm.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/helm.go
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 
 	// Import to initialize client auth plugins.
 	_ "k8s.io/client-go/plugin/pkg/client/auth"
@@ -136,28 +134,6 @@ func checkArgsLength(argsReceived int, requiredArgs ...string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// configForContext creates a Kubernetes REST client configuration for a given kubeconfig context.
-func configForContext(context string) (*rest.Config, error) {
-	config, err := kube.GetConfig(context).ClientConfig()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get Kubernetes config for context %q: %s", context, err)
-	}
-	return config, nil
-}
-
-// getKubeClient creates a Kubernetes config and client for a given kubeconfig context.
-func getKubeClient(context string) (*rest.Config, kubernetes.Interface, error) {
-	config, err := configForContext(context)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
-	}
-	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get Kubernetes client: %s", err)
-	}
-	return config, client, nil
-}
-
 // ensureHelmClient returns a new helm client impl. if h is not nil.
 func ensureHelmClient(h helm.Interface) helm.Interface {
 	if h != nil {
@@ -167,15 +143,18 @@ func ensureHelmClient(h helm.Interface) helm.Interface {
 }
 
 func newClient() helm.Interface {
-	_, clientset, err := getKubeClient(settings.KubeContext)
+	cfg := kube.GetConfig(settings.KubeContext)
+	kc := kube.New(cfg)
+	clientset, err := kc.KubernetesClientSet()
 	if err != nil {
 		// TODO return error
 		panic(err)
 	}
 	// TODO add other backends
-	cfgmaps := driver.NewConfigMaps(clientset.Core().ConfigMaps(settings.TillerNamespace))
+	cfgmaps := driver.NewConfigMaps(clientset.CoreV1().ConfigMaps(settings.TillerNamespace))
 
 	return helm.NewClient(
+		helm.KubeClient(kc),
 		helm.Driver(cfgmaps),
 		helm.Discovery(clientset.Discovery()),
 	)
diff --git a/pkg/helm/client.go b/pkg/helm/client.go
index 2f6247600..fc8b40cd7 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/client.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/client.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package helm // import "k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm"
 
 import (
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/chartutil"
-	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/kube"
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/chart"
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/release"
 	rls "k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/services"
@@ -42,9 +41,7 @@ func NewClient(opts ...Option) *Client {
 func (c *Client) init() *Client {
 	env := environment.New()
 	env.Releases = storage.Init(c.opts.driver)
-
-	// TODO
-	env.KubeClient = kube.New(nil)
+	env.KubeClient = c.opts.kubeClient
 
 	c.tiller = tiller.NewReleaseServer(env, c.opts.discovery)
 	return c
diff --git a/pkg/helm/option.go b/pkg/helm/option.go
index cad158058..375cb719d 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/option.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/option.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/release"
 	rls "k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/services"
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/storage/driver"
+	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/tiller/environment"
 )
 
 // Option allows specifying various settings configurable by
@@ -68,8 +69,9 @@ type options struct {
 	// release test options are applied directly to the test release history request
 	testReq rls.TestReleaseRequest
 
-	driver    driver.Driver
-	discovery discovery.DiscoveryInterface
+	driver     driver.Driver
+	kubeClient environment.KubeClient
+	discovery  discovery.DiscoveryInterface
 }
 
 func (opts *options) runBefore(msg proto.Message) error {
@@ -378,6 +380,12 @@ func Driver(d driver.Driver) Option {
 	}
 }
 
+func KubeClient(kc environment.KubeClient) Option {
+	return func(opts *options) {
+		opts.kubeClient = kc
+	}
+}
+
 func Discovery(dc discovery.DiscoveryInterface) Option {
 	return func(opts *options) {
 		opts.discovery = dc