diff --git a/controllers/gce/backends/backends.go b/controllers/gce/backends/backends.go
index 11f1188d1..18686b968 100644
--- a/controllers/gce/backends/backends.go
+++ b/controllers/gce/backends/backends.go
@@ -273,12 +273,6 @@ func (b *Backends) GC(svcNodePorts []int64) error {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-	if len(svcNodePorts) == 0 {
-		glog.Infof("Deleting instance group %v", b.namer.IGName())
-		if err := b.nodePool.DeleteInstanceGroup(b.namer.IGName()); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/controllers/gce/controller/cluster_manager.go b/controllers/gce/controller/cluster_manager.go
index dec9994a5..c16ddb709 100644
--- a/controllers/gce/controller/cluster_manager.go
+++ b/controllers/gce/controller/cluster_manager.go
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (c *ClusterManager) Checkpoint(lbs []*loadbalancers.L7RuntimeInfo, nodeName
 	// DefaultBackend is managed in l7 pool, which doesn't understand instances,
 	// which the firewall rule requires.
 	fwNodePorts := nodePorts
-	if len(fwNodePorts) != 0 {
+	if len(lbs) != 0 {
 		// If there are no Ingresses, we shouldn't be allowing traffic to the
 		// default backend. Equally importantly if the cluster gets torn down
 		// we shouldn't leak the firewall rule.
@@ -191,6 +191,17 @@ func (c *ClusterManager) GC(lbNames []string, nodePorts []int64) error {
 	if beErr != nil {
 		return beErr
 	}
+
+	// TODO(ingress#120): Move this to the backend pool so it mirrors creation
+	var igErr error
+	if len(lbNames) == 0 {
+		igName := c.ClusterNamer.IGName()
+		glog.Infof("Deleting instance group %v", igName)
+		igErr = c.instancePool.DeleteInstanceGroup(igName)
+	}
+	if igErr != nil {
+		return igErr
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/controllers/gce/controller/utils.go b/controllers/gce/controller/utils.go
index 930d6bffa..b86e811f0 100644
--- a/controllers/gce/controller/utils.go
+++ b/controllers/gce/controller/utils.go
@@ -267,12 +267,23 @@ func (t *GCETranslator) toURLMap(ing *extensions.Ingress) (utils.GCEURLMap, erro
 		}
 		hostPathBackend[host] = pathToBackend
 	}
-	defaultBackend, _ := t.toGCEBackend(ing.Spec.Backend, ing.Namespace)
-	hostPathBackend.PutDefaultBackend(defaultBackend)
-
-	if defaultBackend != nil && ing.Spec.Backend != nil {
-		t.recorder.Eventf(ing, api.EventTypeNormal, "GCE", fmt.Sprintf("default backend set to %v:%v", ing.Spec.Backend.ServiceName, defaultBackend.Port))
+	var defaultBackend *compute.BackendService
+	if ing.Spec.Backend != nil {
+		var err error
+		defaultBackend, err = t.toGCEBackend(ing.Spec.Backend, ing.Namespace)
+		if err != nil {
+			msg := fmt.Sprintf("%v", err)
+			if _, ok := err.(errorNodePortNotFound); ok {
+				msg = fmt.Sprintf("couldn't find nodeport for %v/%v", ing.Namespace, ing.Spec.Backend.ServiceName)
+			}
+			t.recorder.Eventf(ing, api.EventTypeWarning, "Service", fmt.Sprintf("failed to identify user specified default backend, %v, using system default", msg))
+		} else if defaultBackend != nil {
+			t.recorder.Eventf(ing, api.EventTypeNormal, "Service", fmt.Sprintf("default backend set to %v:%v", ing.Spec.Backend.ServiceName, defaultBackend.Port))
+		}
+	} else {
+		t.recorder.Eventf(ing, api.EventTypeNormal, "Service", "no user specified default backend, using system default")
 	}
+	hostPathBackend.PutDefaultBackend(defaultBackend)
 	return hostPathBackend, nil
 }