diff --git a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
index 7c1575b1b0..312bb550be 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/cloud/node_controller.go
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
-	"k8s.io/klog"
-
-	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 	utilruntime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime"
@@ -37,6 +35,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/record"
 	clientretry "k8s.io/client-go/util/retry"
 	cloudprovider "k8s.io/cloud-provider"
+	"k8s.io/klog"
 	kubeletapis "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis"
 	schedulerapi "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/scheduler/api"
 	nodeutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/node"
@@ -199,14 +198,22 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) updateNodeAddress(node *v1.Node, instances cloud
 }
 
 func (cnc *CloudNodeController) UpdateCloudNode(_, newObj interface{}) {
-	if _, ok := newObj.(*v1.Node); !ok {
+	node, ok := newObj.(*v1.Node)
+	if !ok {
 		utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("unexpected object type: %v", newObj))
 		return
 	}
-	cnc.AddCloudNode(newObj)
+
+	cloudTaint := getCloudTaint(node.Spec.Taints)
+	if cloudTaint == nil {
+		// The node has already been initialized so nothing to do.
+		return
+	}
+
+	cnc.initializeNode(node)
 }
 
-// This processes nodes that were added into the cluster, and cloud initialize them if appropriate
+// AddCloudNode handles initializing new nodes registered with the cloud taint.
 func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 	node := obj.(*v1.Node)
 
@@ -216,6 +223,12 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	cnc.initializeNode(node)
+}
+
+// This processes nodes that were added into the cluster, and cloud initialize them if appropriate
+func (cnc *CloudNodeController) initializeNode(node *v1.Node) {
+
 	instances, ok := cnc.cloud.Instances()
 	if !ok {
 		utilruntime.HandleError(fmt.Errorf("failed to get instances from cloud provider"))
@@ -290,7 +303,7 @@ func (cnc *CloudNodeController) AddCloudNode(obj interface{}) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		curNode.Spec.Taints = excludeTaintFromList(curNode.Spec.Taints, *cloudTaint)
+		curNode.Spec.Taints = excludeCloudTaint(curNode.Spec.Taints)
 
 		_, err = cnc.kubeClient.CoreV1().Nodes().Update(curNode)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -318,10 +331,10 @@ func getCloudTaint(taints []v1.Taint) *v1.Taint {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func excludeTaintFromList(taints []v1.Taint, toExclude v1.Taint) []v1.Taint {
+func excludeCloudTaint(taints []v1.Taint) []v1.Taint {
 	newTaints := []v1.Taint{}
 	for _, taint := range taints {
-		if toExclude.MatchTaint(&taint) {
+		if taint.Key == schedulerapi.TaintExternalCloudProvider {
 			continue
 		}
 		newTaints = append(newTaints, taint)