diff --git a/metropolis/node/core/main.go b/metropolis/node/core/main.go
index f737bd6..2a667d6 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/core/main.go
+++ b/metropolis/node/core/main.go
@@ -151,13 +151,13 @@
 		if err := root.Start(ctx, updateSvc); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot start root FS: %w", err)
 		}
-		nodeParams, err := getNodeParams(ctx, root)
+		localNodeParams, err := getLocalNodeParams(ctx, root)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("cannot get node parameters: %w", err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot get local node parameters: %w", err)
 		}
-		if nodeParams.NetworkConfig != nil {
-			networkSvc.StaticConfig = nodeParams.NetworkConfig
-			if err := root.ESP.Metropolis.NetworkConfiguration.Marshal(nodeParams.NetworkConfig); err != nil {
+		if localNodeParams.NetworkConfig != nil {
+			networkSvc.StaticConfig = localNodeParams.NetworkConfig
+			if err := root.ESP.Metropolis.NetworkConfiguration.Marshal(localNodeParams.NetworkConfig); err != nil {
 				logger.Errorf("Error writing back network_config from NodeParameters: %v", err)
 			}
 		}
@@ -234,6 +234,11 @@
 			logger.Errorf("Failed to configure printk logging: %v", err)
 		}
 
+		nodeParams, err := getNodeParams(ctx, root)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot get node parameters: %w", err)
+		}
+
 		// Start cluster manager. This kicks off cluster membership machinery,
 		// which will either start a new cluster, enroll into one or join one.
 		m := cluster.NewManager(root, networkSvc, rs, updateSvc, nodeParams, haveTPM)
diff --git a/metropolis/node/core/nodeparams.go b/metropolis/node/core/nodeparams.go
index bc3c5f0..868d070 100644
--- a/metropolis/node/core/nodeparams.go
+++ b/metropolis/node/core/nodeparams.go
@@ -79,39 +79,7 @@
 	return boardName == "Google Compute Engine"
 }
 
-func getNodeParams(ctx context.Context, storage *localstorage.Root) (*apb.NodeParameters, error) {
-	boardName, err := getDMIBoardName()
-	if err != nil {
-		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("Board name: UNKNOWN")
-		} else {
-			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Warningf("Could not get board name, cannot detect platform: %v", err)
-		}
-	} else {
-		supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("Board name: %q", boardName)
-	}
-
-	// When running on GCP, attempt to retrieve the node parameters from the
-	// metadata server first. Retry until we get a response, since we need to
-	// wait for the network service to assign an IP address first.
-	if isGCPInstance(boardName) {
-		var params *apb.NodeParameters
-		op := func() error {
-			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Info("Running on GCP, attempting to retrieve node parameters from metadata server")
-			params, err = nodeParamsGCPMetadata(ctx)
-			return err
-		}
-		err := backoff.Retry(op, backoff.WithContext(backoff.NewExponentialBackOff(), ctx))
-		if err != nil {
-			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Errorf("Failed to retrieve node parameters: %v", err)
-		}
-		if params != nil {
-			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Info("Retrieved parameters from GCP metadata server")
-			return params, nil
-		}
-		supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("\"metropolis-node-params\" metadata not found")
-	}
-
+func getLocalNodeParams(ctx context.Context, storage *localstorage.Root) (*apb.NodeParameters, error) {
 	// Retrieve node parameters from qemu's fwcfg interface or ESP.
 	// TODO(q3k): probably abstract this away and implement per platform/build/...
 	paramsFWCFG, err := nodeParamsFWCFG(ctx)
@@ -148,3 +116,39 @@
 		return paramsESP, nil
 	}
 }
+
+func getNodeParams(ctx context.Context, storage *localstorage.Root) (*apb.NodeParameters, error) {
+	boardName, err := getDMIBoardName()
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("Board name: UNKNOWN")
+		} else {
+			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Warningf("Could not get board name, cannot detect platform: %v", err)
+		}
+	} else {
+		supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("Board name: %q", boardName)
+	}
+
+	// When running on GCP, attempt to retrieve the node parameters from the
+	// metadata server first. Retry until we get a response, since we need to
+	// wait for the network service to assign an IP address first.
+	if isGCPInstance(boardName) {
+		var params *apb.NodeParameters
+		op := func() error {
+			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Info("Running on GCP, attempting to retrieve node parameters from metadata server")
+			params, err = nodeParamsGCPMetadata(ctx)
+			return err
+		}
+		err := backoff.Retry(op, backoff.WithContext(backoff.NewExponentialBackOff(), ctx))
+		if err != nil {
+			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Errorf("Failed to retrieve node parameters: %v", err)
+		}
+		if params != nil {
+			supervisor.Logger(ctx).Info("Retrieved parameters from GCP metadata server")
+			return params, nil
+		}
+		supervisor.Logger(ctx).Infof("\"metropolis-node-params\" metadata not found")
+	}
+
+	return getLocalNodeParams(ctx, storage)
+}