diff --git a/docs/run_qa_against_gdk.md b/docs/run_qa_against_gdk.md
index 182b2d3af2e1e260887be4f8b5c4b3f870b3c40d..43abf13a132caf84c1e29af1b4697876deb2f3bc 100644
--- a/docs/run_qa_against_gdk.md
+++ b/docs/run_qa_against_gdk.md
@@ -47,7 +47,38 @@ $ bundle exec bin/qa QA::EE::Scenario::Test::Geo --primary-address http://localh
 $ CHROME_HEADLESS=0 bundle exec bin/qa QA::EE::Scenario::Test::Geo --primary-address http://localhost:3001 --secondary-address http://localhost:3002 --primary-name primary --secondary-name secondary --without-setup
 ```
 
-### QA Tool support on macOS
+## Run Kubernetes QA tests against your GDK setup
+
+**Prerequisites**: 
+To run the Kubernetes QA tests locally from your machine, 
+you must have access to the [QA Tunnel] and follow the instructions 
+[found here](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/blob/master/doc%2Fhowto%2Fauto_devops.md) 
+(employees only)
+
+If you have [k3d] installed on your local machine -
+
+```bash
+# from the gitlab/qa directory...
+$ QA_K3D_HOSTNAME=127.0.0.1 bundle exec bin/qa Test::Integration::Kubernetes https://<id>.qa-tunnel.gitlab.info -- qa/specs/features/browser_ui/7_configure/
+```
+
+If you do not have [k3d] installed and would like to run it orchestrated, [see Orchestrated](#orchestrated) 
+
+### Orchestrated
+
+1. If you are making local changes to the tests, build a QA image
+
+```bash
+$ docker build -t gitlab/gitlab-ce-qa:your-custom-tag --file ./qa/Dockerfile ./
+```
+
+2. From the [`gitlab-qa`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa) project, run:
+
+```bash
+$ exe/gitlab-qa Test::Instance::Any gitlab/gitlab-ce-qa:your-custom-tag https://<id>.qa-tunnel.gitlab.info -- qa/specs/features/browser_ui/7_configure/auto_devops/create_project_with_auto_devops_spec.rb --tag kubernetes
+```
+
+## QA Tool support on macOS
 
 Most of our development for GitLab is done on macOS. This brings some challenges as Docker on
 macOS doesn't have feature parity with it's Linux conterpart.
@@ -148,6 +179,7 @@ You should be able to use your navigator and point it to `http://gitlab-primary.
 [Docker bridge issue]: https://github.com/moby/moby/issues/22753#issuecomment-253534261
 [dnsdock]: https://github.com/aacebedo/dnsdock
 [Git protocol]: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/git_protocol.html#doc-nav
+[k3d]: https://github.com/rancher/k3d
 
 ----
 
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/qa/component/specs.rb b/lib/gitlab/qa/component/specs.rb
index 44e8a8305d6ec5e646e057e9827d7ecb1216d216..6b2302a4c1f9bc9d2b8fffb48766bacff67999d9 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/qa/component/specs.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/qa/component/specs.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
 require 'securerandom'
 
 module Gitlab
@@ -31,8 +33,6 @@ module Gitlab
 
           puts "Running test suite `#{suite}` for #{release.project_name}"
 
-          name = "#{release.project_name}-qa-#{SecureRandom.hex(4)}"
-
           @docker.run(release.qa_image, release.qa_tag, suite, *args) do |command|
             command << "-t --rm --net=#{network || 'bridge'}"
 
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ module Gitlab
               command.env(key, value)
             end
 
+            # set k3d hostname to listen on
+            command.env('QA_K3D_HOSTNAME', hostname)
+
             command.volume('/var/run/docker.sock', '/var/run/docker.sock')
             command.volume(File.join(Runtime::Env.host_artifacts_dir, name), File.join(Docker::Volumes::QA_CONTAINER_WORKDIR, 'tmp'))
 
@@ -50,6 +53,14 @@ module Gitlab
             command.name(name)
           end
         end
+
+        def name
+          "#{release.project_name}-qa-#{SecureRandom.hex(4)}"
+        end
+
+        def hostname
+          "#{name}.#{network}"
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/qa/runtime/env.rb b/lib/gitlab/qa/runtime/env.rb
index dec03e2d97a254a1b9be30188d23f8d5c60f0c7c..0adec49ea35e54fd13d31982176c397a222622a8 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/qa/runtime/env.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/qa/runtime/env.rb
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ module Gitlab
           'QA_DEBUG' => :qa_debug,
           'QA_LOG_PATH' => :qa_log_path,
           'QA_CAN_TEST_GIT_PROTOCOL_V2' => :qa_can_test_git_protocol_v2,
+          'QA_K3D_HOSTNAME' => :k3d_hostname,
           'GITLAB_QA_USERNAME_1' => :gitlab_qa_username_1,
           'GITLAB_QA_PASSWORD_1' => :gitlab_qa_password_1,
           'GITLAB_QA_USERNAME_2' => :gitlab_qa_username_2,
@@ -130,12 +131,6 @@ module Gitlab
           end
         end
 
-        def require_kubernetes_environment!
-          %w[GCLOUD_ACCOUNT_EMAIL GCLOUD_ACCOUNT_KEY CLOUDSDK_CORE_PROJECT GCLOUD_REGION].each do |env_key|
-            raise ArgumentError, "Environment variable #{env_key} must be set to run kubernetes specs" unless ENV.key?(env_key)
-          end
-        end
-
         def skip_pull?
           (ENV['QA_SKIP_PULL'] =~ /^(false|no|0)$/i) != 0
         end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/qa/scenario/test/integration/kubernetes.rb b/lib/gitlab/qa/scenario/test/integration/kubernetes.rb
index e6443715da92682c86e9a3f4069bc0ff5845d4c7..95fd67192129bf339fa93c2ea8254d37fbcd4bdd 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/qa/scenario/test/integration/kubernetes.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/qa/scenario/test/integration/kubernetes.rb
@@ -6,10 +6,7 @@ module Gitlab
       module Test
         module Integration
           class Kubernetes < Scenario::Template
-            # rubocop:disable Metrics/AbcSize
             def perform(release, *rspec_args)
-              Runtime::Env.require_kubernetes_environment!
-
               Component::Gitlab.perform do |gitlab|
                 gitlab.release = release
                 gitlab.network = 'test'
@@ -47,7 +44,6 @@ module Gitlab
                 end
               end
             end
-            # rubocop:enable Metrics/AbcSize
           end
         end
       end