diff --git a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/autoscaler.py
index b918df7f3..ba1fb4fe4 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 create_or_update /path/to/config.yaml` from your laptop, which will
+    `ray up /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 52ead65cd..075efa377 100644
--- a/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py
+++ b/python/ray/autoscaler/_private/command_runner.py
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@ 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
@@ -114,6 +112,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
         self.node_id = str(node_id)
         self.namespace = namespace
         self.kubectl = ["kubectl", "-n", self.namespace]
+        self._home_cached = None
 
     def run(
             self,
@@ -195,7 +194,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 logger.warning("'rsync_filter' detected but is currently "
                                "unsupported for k8s.")
         if target.startswith("~"):
-            target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
+            target = self._home + target[1:]
 
         try:
             flags = "-aqz" if is_rsync_silent() else "-avz"
@@ -211,7 +210,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 "rsync failed: '{}'. Falling back to 'kubectl cp'".format(e),
                 UserWarning)
             if target.startswith("~"):
-                target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
+                target = self._home + target[1:]
 
             self.process_runner.check_call(self.kubectl + [
                 "cp", source, "{}/{}:{}".format(self.namespace, self.node_id,
@@ -219,8 +218,8 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
             ])
 
     def run_rsync_down(self, source, target, options=None):
-        if target.startswith("~"):
-            target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
+        if source.startswith("~"):
+            source = self._home + source[1:]
 
         try:
             flags = "-aqz" if is_rsync_silent() else "-avz"
@@ -236,7 +235,7 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
                 "rsync failed: '{}'. Falling back to 'kubectl cp'".format(e),
                 UserWarning)
             if target.startswith("~"):
-                target = RAY_HOME + target[1:]
+                target = self._home + target[1:]
 
             self.process_runner.check_call(self.kubectl + [
                 "cp", "{}/{}:{}".format(self.namespace, self.node_id, source),
@@ -244,8 +243,21 @@ class KubernetesCommandRunner(CommandRunnerInterface):
             ])
 
     def remote_shell_command_str(self):
-        return "{} exec -it {} bash".format(" ".join(self.kubectl),
-                                            self.node_id)
+        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_cached 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_cached = raw_out.decode().strip("\n\r")
+        return self._home_cached
 
 
 class SSHOptions: