diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_instances.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_instances.go
index 90506911d81..497464bcc9f 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_instances.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_instances.go
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ func getZone(n *v1.Node) string {
 	return zone
 }
 
+func makeHostURL(projectsApiEndpoint, projectID, zone, host string) string {
+	host = canonicalizeInstanceName(host)
+	return projectsApiEndpoint + strings.Join([]string{projectID, "zones", zone, "instances", host}, "/")
+}
+
 // ToInstanceReferences returns instance references by links
 func (gce *GCECloud) ToInstanceReferences(zone string, instanceNames []string) (refs []*compute.InstanceReference) {
 	for _, ins := range instanceNames {
diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_external.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_external.go
index ceaaf053593..8cce4e2fe51 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_external.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/gce/gce_loadbalancer_external.go
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ func (gce *GCECloud) createTargetPoolAndHealthCheck(svc *v1.Service, name, servi
 
 	var instances []string
 	for _, host := range hosts {
-		instances = append(instances, makeHostURL(gce.service.BasePath, gce.projectID, host.Zone, host.Name))
+		instances = append(instances, host.makeComparableHostPath())
 	}
 	glog.Infof("Creating targetpool %v with %d healthchecks", name, len(hcLinks))
 	pool := &compute.TargetPool{
@@ -732,11 +732,6 @@ func nodeNames(nodes []*v1.Node) []string {
 	return ret
 }
 
-func makeHostURL(projectsApiEndpoint, projectID, zone, host string) string {
-	host = canonicalizeInstanceName(host)
-	return projectsApiEndpoint + strings.Join([]string{projectID, "zones", zone, "instances", host}, "/")
-}
-
 func hostURLToComparablePath(hostURL string) string {
 	idx := strings.Index(hostURL, "/zones/")
 	if idx < 0 {