diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/providers.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/providers.py
index c9ffccaaa..54be5dfd4 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/providers.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/providers.py
@@ -131,18 +131,47 @@ def _load_class(path):
     return getattr(module, class_str)
 
 
-def _get_node_provider(provider_config: Dict[str, Any],
-                       cluster_name: str,
-                       use_cache: bool = True) -> Any:
+def _get_node_provider_cls(provider_config: Dict[str, Any]):
+    """Get the node provider class for a given provider config.
+
+    Note that this may be used by private node providers that proxy methods to
+    built-in node providers, so we should maintain backwards compatibility.
+
+    Args:
+        provider_config: provider section of the autoscaler config.
+
+    Returns:
+        NodeProvider class
+    """
     importer = _NODE_PROVIDERS.get(provider_config["type"])
     if importer is None:
         raise NotImplementedError("Unsupported node provider: {}".format(
             provider_config["type"]))
-    provider_cls = importer(provider_config)
+    return importer(provider_config)
+
+
+def _get_node_provider(provider_config: Dict[str, Any],
+                       cluster_name: str,
+                       use_cache: bool = True) -> Any:
+    """Get the instantiated node provider for a given provider config.
+
+    Note that this may be used by private node providers that proxy methods to
+    built-in node providers, so we should maintain backwards compatibility.
+
+    Args:
+        provider_config: provider section of the autoscaler config.
+        cluster_name: cluster name from the autoscaler config.
+        use_cache: whether or not to use a cached definition if available. If
+            False, the returned object will also not be stored in the cache.
+
+    Returns:
+        NodeProvider
+    """
     provider_key = (json.dumps(provider_config, sort_keys=True), cluster_name)
     if use_cache and provider_key in _provider_instances:
         return _provider_instances[provider_key]
 
+    provider_cls = _get_node_provider_cls(provider_config)
     new_provider = provider_cls(provider_config, cluster_name)
 
     if use_cache: