diff --git a/contrib/gce/env b/contrib/gce/env
index 956f5fa2c..613516c5e 100644
--- a/contrib/gce/env
+++ b/contrib/gce/env
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ fi
 export KUBE_MASTER_EXTRA_METADATA="user-data=${GCE_DIR}/cloud-init/master.yaml,containerd-configure-sh=${GCE_DIR}/configure.sh,containerd-env=${version_file}"
 export KUBE_NODE_EXTRA_METADATA="user-data=${GCE_DIR}/cloud-init/node.yaml,containerd-configure-sh=${GCE_DIR}/configure.sh,containerd-env=${version_file}"
 export KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME="remote"
-export KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT="/run/containerd/containerd.sock"
+export KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT="unix:///run/containerd/containerd.sock"
 export KUBE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME_NAME=containerd
 export KUBE_LOAD_IMAGE_COMMAND="/home/containerd/usr/local/bin/ctr cri load"
 export NETWORK_PROVIDER=""