diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/stop.go b/pkg/kubectl/stop.go
index 9f3537c917..344d45a24c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/stop.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/stop.go
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	interval = time.Second * 3
-	timeout  = time.Minute * 5
+	shortInterval = time.Millisecond * 100
+	interval      = time.Second * 3
+	timeout       = time.Minute * 5
 )
 
 // A Reaper handles terminating an object as gracefully as possible.
@@ -69,10 +70,12 @@ func (reaper *ReplicationControllerReaper) Stop(namespace, name string) (string,
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-
-	controller.Spec.Replicas = 0
-	// TODO: do retry on 409 errors here?
-	if _, err := rc.Update(controller); err != nil {
+	resizer, err := ResizerFor("ReplicationController", *reaper)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	cond := ResizeCondition(resizer, &ResizePrecondition{-1, ""}, namespace, name, 0)
+	if err = wait.Poll(shortInterval, reaper.timeout, cond); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 	if err := wait.Poll(reaper.pollInterval, reaper.timeout,
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/stop_test.go b/pkg/kubectl/stop_test.go
index 0d7c3f3a22..ed1518f241 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/stop_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/stop_test.go
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ func TestReplicationControllerStop(t *testing.T) {
 	if s != expected {
 		t.Errorf("expected %s, got %s", expected, s)
 	}
-	if len(fake.Actions) != 4 {
+	if len(fake.Actions) != 5 {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected actions: %v, expected 4 actions (get, update, get, delete)", fake.Actions)
 	}
-	for i, action := range []string{"get", "update", "get", "delete"} {
+	for i, action := range []string{"get", "get", "update", "get", "delete"} {
 		if fake.Actions[i].Action != action+"-controller" {
 			t.Errorf("unexpected action: %v, expected %s-controller", fake.Actions[i], action)
 		}
diff --git a/test/e2e/networking.go b/test/e2e/networking.go
index 34de4720cb..3ae46ad845 100644
--- a/test/e2e/networking.go
+++ b/test/e2e/networking.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
@@ -123,13 +124,13 @@ var _ = Describe("Networking", func() {
 		defer func() {
 			defer GinkgoRecover()
 			By("Cleaning up the replication controller")
-			rc.Spec.Replicas = 0
-			rc, err = c.ReplicationControllers(ns).Update(rc)
+			// Resize the replication controller to zero to get rid of pods.
+			rcReaper, err := kubectl.ReaperFor("ReplicationController", c)
 			if err != nil {
-				Fail(fmt.Sprintf("unable to modify replica count for rc %v: %v", rc.Name, err))
+				Fail(fmt.Sprintf("unable to stop rc %v: %v", rc.Name, err))
 			}
-			if err = c.ReplicationControllers(ns).Delete(rc.Name); err != nil {
-				Fail(fmt.Sprintf("unable to delete rc %v: %v", rc.Name, err))
+			if _, err = rcReaper.Stop(ns, rc.Name); err != nil {
+				Fail(fmt.Sprintf("unable to stop rc %v: %v", rc.Name, err))
 			}
 		}()
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/rc.go b/test/e2e/rc.go
index cf67dd62ed..fdfa9816d5 100644
--- a/test/e2e/rc.go
+++ b/test/e2e/rc.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/labels"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 
@@ -97,14 +98,13 @@ func ServeImageOrFail(c *client.Client, test string, image string) {
 	// Cleanup the replication controller when we are done.
 	defer func() {
 		// Resize the replication controller to zero to get rid of pods.
-		controller.Spec.Replicas = 0
-		if _, err = c.ReplicationControllers(ns).Update(controller); err != nil {
-			Logf("Failed to resize replication controller %s to zero: %v", name, err)
+		By("Cleaning up the replication controller")
+		rcReaper, err := kubectl.ReaperFor("ReplicationController", c)
+		if err != nil {
+			Logf("Failed to cleanup replication controller %v: %v.", controller.Name, err)
 		}
-
-		// Delete the replication controller.
-		if err = c.ReplicationControllers(ns).Delete(name); err != nil {
-			Logf("Failed to delete replication controller %s: %v", name, err)
+		if _, err = rcReaper.Stop(ns, controller.Name); err != nil {
+			Logf("Failed to stop replication controller %v: %v.", controller.Name, err)
 		}
 	}()