diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
index b0e8e4fc50..acfa8cbb2b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"math/rand"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet"
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	my_kubelet := kubelet.Kubelet{
-		Hostname:           hostname,
+		Hostname:           string(hostname),
 		DockerClient:       dockerClient,
 		FileCheckFrequency: *fileCheckFrequency,
 		SyncFrequency:      *syncFrequency,
diff --git a/hack/local-up.sh b/hack/local-up.sh
index a279b68c2d..1308420ee7 100755
--- a/hack/local-up.sh
+++ b/hack/local-up.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ ETCD_PID=$!
 
 sleep 5
 
-$(dirname $0)/../output/go/localkube
+echo "Running localkube as root (so it can talk to docker's unix socket)"
+sudo $(dirname $0)/../output/go/localkube
 
 kill $ETCD_PID
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index c01faf6548..9f88df109d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) getKubeletStateFromEtcd(key string, changeChannel chan<- []ap
 // The channel to send new configurations across
 // This function loops forever and is intended to be run in a go routine.
 func (kl *Kubelet) SyncAndSetupEtcdWatch(changeChannel chan<- []api.ContainerManifest) {
-	key := "/registry/hosts/" + strings.TrimSpace(string(kl.Hostname))
+	key := "/registry/hosts/" + strings.TrimSpace(kl.Hostname)
 	// First fetch the initial configuration (watch only gives changes...)
 	for {
 		err := kl.getKubeletStateFromEtcd(key, changeChannel)