diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f8d52bc..f825aad 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ genssl/server.csr
 genssl/server.key
 genssl/server.pem
 manifests/deis-minio-secretssl-final.yaml
+mc/mc
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b70454e..cc12693 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ export GO15VENDOREXPERIMENT=1
 
 # Note that Minio currently uses CGO.
 
-VERSION := 0.0.1-$(shell date "+%Y%m%d%H%M%S")
+VERSION ?= 0.0.1-$(shell date "+%Y%m%d%H%M%S")
 LDFLAGS := "-s -X main.version=${VERSION}"
 BINDIR := ./rootfs/bin
 DEV_REGISTRY ?= $(docker-machine ip deis):5000
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ SVC := manifests/deis-${SHORT_NAME}-service.yaml
 ADMIN_SEC := manifests/deis-${SHORT_NAME}-secretAdmin.yaml
 USER_SEC := manifests/deis-${SHORT_NAME}-secretUser.yaml
 IMAGE := ${DEIS_REGISTRY}${SHORT_NAME}:${VERSION}
+MC_IMAGE := ${DEIS_REGISTRY}${IMAGE_PREFIX}/mc:${VERSION}
+MC_INTEGRATION_IMAGE := ${DEIS_REGISTRY}${IMAGE_PREFIX}/mc-integration:${VERSION}
 
 all: build docker-build docker-push
 
@@ -64,9 +66,24 @@ kube-clean:
 kube-mc:
 	kubectl create -f manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
 
-mc:
-	docker build -t ${DEIS_REGISTRY}/deis/minio-mc:latest mc
-	docker push ${DEIS_REGISTRY}/deis/minio-mc:latest
-	perl -pi -e "s|image: [a-z0-9.:]+\/|image: ${DEIS_REGISTRY}/|g" manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
+kube-mc-integration:
+	kubectl create -f manifests/deis-mc-integration-pod.yaml
+
+build-mc:
+	docker run -e GO15VENDOREXPERIMENT=1 -e GOROOT=/usr/local/go --rm -v "${PWD}/mc":/pwd -w /pwd golang:1.5.2 ./install.sh
+
+docker-build-mc:
+	docker build -t ${MC_IMAGE} mc
+
+docker-push-mc:
+	docker push ${MC_IMAGE}
+	perl -pi -e "s|image: [a-z0-9.:]+\/|image: ${MC_IMAGE}/|g" manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
+
+docker-build-mc-integration:
+	docker build -t ${MC_INTEGRATION_IMAGE} mc
+
+docker-push-mc-integration:
+	docker push ${MC_INTEGRATION_IMAGE}
+	perl -pi -e "s|image: [a-z0-9.:]+\/|image: ${MC_INTEGRATION_IMAGE}/|g" manifests/deis-mc-integration-pod.yaml
 
 .PHONY: all build docker-compile kube-up kube-down deploy mc kube-mc
diff --git a/manifests/deis-mc-integration-pod.yaml b/manifests/deis-mc-integration-pod.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c79e9cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/deis-mc-integration-pod.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# A debugging utility for testing Minio from within k8s.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: deis-mc-integration
+  labels:
+    heritage: deis
+    version: v2-alpha
+spec:
+  restartPolicy: Never
+  containers:
+    - name: mc
+      imagePullPolicy: Always
+      image: quay.io/deisci/mc-integration:v2-alpha
+      command:
+        - /bin/integration.sh
+      args:
+        - "mode memory limit 512MB"
+      volumeMounts:
+        - name: minio-user
+          mountPath: /var/run/secrets/deis/minio/user
+          readOnly: true
+  volumes:
+    - name: minio-user
+      secret:
+        secretName: minio-user
diff --git a/manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml b/manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
index 21cd82b..476e73c 100644
--- a/manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
+++ b/manifests/deis-mc-pod.yaml
@@ -5,14 +5,22 @@ metadata:
   name: deis-mc
   labels:
     heritage: deis
-    version: 2015-sept
+    version: v2-alpha
 spec:
   restartPolicy: Never
   containers:
     - name: mc
       imagePullPolicy: Always
-      image: smothiki/minio:v2
+      image: quay.io/deisci/mc:v2-alpha
       command:
         - mc
       args:
         - "mode memory limit 512MB"
+      volumeMounts:
+        - name: minio-user
+          mountPath: /var/run/secrets/deis/minio/user
+          readOnly: true
+  volumes:
+    - name: minio-user
+      secret:
+        secretName: minio-user
diff --git a/mc/Dockerfile b/mc/Dockerfile
index 3bf9cd3..a80d973 100644
--- a/mc/Dockerfile
+++ b/mc/Dockerfile
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-FROM golang:1.5
-
-WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/minio
-RUN git clone https://github.com/minio/minio
-WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/minio/minio
-ENV GOPATH /go
-ENV GOROOT /usr/local/go
-RUN make install
+FROM ubuntu-debootstrap:14.04
+
+RUN apt-get update -y && apt-get install -y -q ca-certificates
+
+ADD mc /bin/mc
+
+ADD ./integration.sh /bin/integration.sh
+RUN chmod +x /bin/integration.sh
+
+CMD mc
diff --git a/mc/install.sh b/mc/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..d7319e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mc/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This script builds the minio mc client (https://github.com/minio/mc) inside a Docker container. It should be run inside a golang:1.5.2 container, with the following environment variables set.
+#
+# - GOROOT=/usr/local/go
+# - GO15VENDOREXPERIMENT=1
+#
+# It also expects the current directory (mc/) to be mounted at /pwd, and for /pwd to be the current working directory
+#
+# See the 'mc' build target in the Makefile (in the parent directory) for an example of how to use this script.
+
+mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/minio
+cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/minio
+curl -L -O -s https://github.com/minio/mc/archive/master.tar.gz && tar -xvzf master.tar.gz && rm master.tar.gz && mv mc-master mc
+cd mc
+make install
+cp $GOPATH/bin/mc /pwd/mc
diff --git a/mc/integration.sh b/mc/integration.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ed962ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mc/integration.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This script provides a simple integration test against the minio server (https://github.com/minio/minio).
+# It uses the Minio 'mc' client (https://github.com/minio/mc) to do all its work.
+#
+# It's intended to be run inside a Docker container running an image built with the Dockerfile in this directory.
+# The 'mc' target in the Makefile (in the parent directory) builds such an image.
+# Finally, this script expects to run in a Kubernetes cluster with a Minio replication controller or pod running and a service called
+# "deis-minio" running in front of running in front of it.
+#
+# You can launch this script by running 'make mc-integration' from the parent directory.
+#
+# TODO: probably rewrite this script in Go!
+
+SECRET_PREFIX="/var/run/secrets/deis/minio/user"
+ACCESS_KEY_FILE="$SECRET_PREFIX/access-key-id"
+ACCESS_SECRET_FILE="$SECRET_PREFIX/access-secret-key"
+
+if [ -z "$DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_HOST" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: no DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_HOST env var "
+  exit 1
+elif [ -z "$DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_PORT" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: no DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_PORT env var"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! [ -e $ACCESS_KEY_FILE ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: no access key file found at $ACCESS_KEY_FILE"
+  exit 1
+elif ! [ -e $ACCESS_SECRET_FILE ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: no access secret file found at $ACCESS_SECRET_FILE"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+FULL_HOST="http://$DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_HOST:$DEIS_MINIO_SERVICE_PORT"
+BUCKET=mybucket
+ACCESS_KEY=`cat $ACCESS_KEY_FILE`
+ACCESS_SECRET=`cat $ACCESS_SECRET_FILE`
+mc config host add $FULL_HOST $ACCESS_KEY $ACCESS_SECRET
+
+echo "mc mb $FULL_HOST/$BUCKET"
+MB_OUT=$(mc mb $FULL_HOST/$BUCKET)
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: exit code $?"
+  exit 1
+elif [ -z "$MB_OUT" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: no output"
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "$MB_OUT"
+
+echo "abc" > file.txt
+
+echo "mc cp file.txt $FULL_HOST/$BUCKET/file.txt"
+CP_OUT=$(mc cp file.txt $FULL_HOST/$BUCKET/file.txt)
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: exit code $?"
+  exit 1
+elif [ -z "$CP_OUT" ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: no output"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+FILE=$(mc cat $FULL_HOST/$BUCKET/file.txt)
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "FAIL: exit code $?"
+  exit 1
+elif [ -z "$FILE" ];
+  echo "FAIL: no output"
+  exit 1
+fi