diff --git a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
index ac9e7d70907981f0433897512371fcd63e5a239d..99a51f01f7619c2486026cbc65fbc841e2b00282 100755
--- a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
+++ b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
@@ -28,15 +28,12 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+NODE_VERSION=$1
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)
 
-NODE_VERSION="$1"
-
-# make sure nvm is available
-source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh || true
-
 nvm install $NODE_VERSION
 
 npm install -g node-static
diff --git a/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh b/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
index 519dc5cade6d28fcb85b7c91e9a758877981d3f8..df7b6571d7a455a0a2f02498d300371a17579d0d 100755
--- a/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
+++ b/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ then
   rvm use ruby-2.1
 fi
 
-nvm use 4 || true
-
 cd /var/local/git/grpc
 
 $RUN_COMMAND
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
index ec3fb6462f319fc688482039d2320cd9f7d8d9bc..8aeec79d087802a83464bade8f73cb0041695aa6 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+NODE_TARGET_ARCH=$1
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
+nvm use 4
+
 cd $(dirname $0)/../..
 
 rm -rf build
@@ -42,6 +46,6 @@ node_versions=( 0.10.41 0.12.0 1.0.0 1.1.0 2.0.0 3.0.0 4.0.0 5.0.0 )
 
 for version in ${node_versions[@]}
 do
-  node-pre-gyp configure rebuild package testpackage --target=$version --target_arch=$1
+  node-pre-gyp configure rebuild package testpackage --target=$version --target_arch=$NODE_TARGET_ARCH
   cp -r build/stage/* artifacts/
 done
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
index 135874026473ede84b29cfbba5bc26cf4877eb90..a8b9448973f1ab8fd67669dbb688347cfa3d7519 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
+nvm use 4
+
 cd $(dirname $0)/../..
 
 mkdir -p artifacts/