diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py
index ba1fb4fe4..b918df7f3 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class StandardAutoscaler:
     There are two ways to start an autoscaling cluster: manually by running
     `ray start --head --autoscaling-config=/path/to/config.yaml` on a
     instance that has permission to launch other instances, or you can also use
-    `ray up /path/to/config.yaml` from your laptop, which will
+    `ray create_or_update /path/to/config.yaml` from your laptop, which will
     configure the right AWS/Cloud roles automatically.
 
     StandardAutoscaler's `update` method is periodically called by `monitor.py`
diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py
index 8c10e0871..52ead65cd 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ from ray.autoscaler._private.subprocess_output_util import (
 from ray.autoscaler._private.cli_logger import cli_logger, cf
 from ray.util.debug import log_once
 
+from ray.autoscaler._private.constants import RAY_HOME
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # How long to wait for a node to start, in seconds
@@ -112,7 +114,6 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
         self.node_id = str(node_id)
         self.namespace = namespace
         self.kubectl = ["kubectl", "-n", self.namespace]
-        self._home = None
 
     def run(
             self,
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 logger.warning("'rsync_filter' detected but is currently "
                                "unsupported for k8s.")
         if target.startswith("~"):
-            target = self.home + target[1:]
+            target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
 
         try:
             flags = "-aqz" if is_rsync_silent() else "-avz"
@@ -210,7 +211,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 "rsync failed: '{}'. Falling back to 'kubectl cp'".format(e),
                 UserWarning)
             if target.startswith("~"):
-                target = self.home + target[1:]
+                target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
 
             self.process_runner.check_call(self.kubectl + [
                 "cp", source, "{}/{}:{}".format(self.namespace, self.node_id,
@@ -218,8 +219,8 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
             ])
 
     def run_rsync_down(self, source, target, options=None):
-        if source.startswith("~"):
-            source = self.home + source[1:]
+        if target.startswith("~"):
+            target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
 
         try:
             flags = "-aqz" if is_rsync_silent() else "-avz"
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 "rsync failed: '{}'. Falling back to 'kubectl cp'".format(e),
                 UserWarning)
             if target.startswith("~"):
-                target = self.home + target[1:]
+                target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
 
             self.process_runner.check_call(self.kubectl + [
                 "cp", "{}/{}:{}".format(self.namespace, self.node_id, source),
@@ -243,21 +244,8 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
             ])
 
     def remote_shell_command_str(self):
-        return "{} exec -it {} -- bash".format(" ".join(self.kubectl),
-                                               self.node_id)
-
-    @property
-    def home(self):
-        # TODO (Dmitri): Think about how to use the node's HOME variable
-        # without making an extra kubectl exec call.
-        if self._home is None:
-            cmd = self.kubectl + [
-                "exec", "-it", self.node_id, "--", "printenv", "HOME"
-            ]
-            joined_cmd = " ".join(cmd)
-            raw_out = self.process_runner.check_output(joined_cmd, shell=True)
-            self._home = raw_out.decode().strip("\n\r")
-        return self._home
+        return "{} exec -it {} bash".format(" ".join(self.kubectl),
+                                            self.node_id)
 
 
 class SSHOptions: