diff --git a/cmd/nginx/main.go b/cmd/nginx/main.go
index 624f70f73..933a84448 100644
--- a/cmd/nginx/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nginx/main.go
@@ -83,29 +83,6 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	glog.Infof("validated %v as the default backend", conf.DefaultService)
 
-	if conf.PublishService != "" {
-		ns, name, err := k8s.ParseNameNS(conf.PublishService)
-		if err != nil {
-			glog.Fatal(err)
-		}
-
-		svc, err := kubeClient.CoreV1().Services(ns).Get(name, metav1.GetOptions{})
-		if err != nil {
-			glog.Fatalf("unexpected error getting information about service %v: %v", conf.PublishService, err)
-		}
-
-		if len(svc.Status.LoadBalancer.Ingress) == 0 {
-			if len(svc.Spec.ExternalIPs) > 0 {
-				glog.Infof("service %v validated as assigned with externalIP", conf.PublishService)
-			} else {
-				// We could poll here, but we instead just exit and rely on k8s to restart us
-				glog.Fatalf("service %s does not (yet) have ingress points", conf.PublishService)
-			}
-		} else {
-			glog.Infof("service %v validated as source of Ingress status", conf.PublishService)
-		}
-	}
-
 	if conf.Namespace != "" {
 		_, err = kubeClient.CoreV1().Namespaces().Get(conf.Namespace, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/ingress/status/status.go b/internal/ingress/status/status.go
index 69bea83ce..1622cbc35 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/status/status.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/status/status.go
@@ -243,6 +243,11 @@ func (s *statusSync) runningAddresses() ([]string, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
+		if svc.Spec.Type == apiv1.ServiceTypeExternalName {
+			addrs = append(addrs, svc.Spec.ExternalName)
+			return addrs, nil
+		}
+
 		for _, ip := range svc.Status.LoadBalancer.Ingress {
 			if ip.IP == "" {
 				addrs = append(addrs, ip.Hostname)
diff --git a/internal/k8s/main.go b/internal/k8s/main.go
index 6013b5471..556133bf2 100644
--- a/internal/k8s/main.go
+++ b/internal/k8s/main.go
@@ -45,29 +45,25 @@ func GetNodeIPOrName(kubeClient clientset.Interface, name string, useInternalIP
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	ip := ""
-
-	for _, address := range node.Status.Addresses {
-		if address.Type == apiv1.NodeExternalIP {
-			if address.Address != "" {
-				ip = address.Address
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	if useInternalIP {
 		for _, address := range node.Status.Addresses {
 			if address.Type == apiv1.NodeInternalIP {
 				if address.Address != "" {
-					ip = address.Address
-					break
+					return address.Address
 				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	return ip
+	for _, address := range node.Status.Addresses {
+		if address.Type == apiv1.NodeExternalIP {
+			if address.Address != "" {
+				return address.Address
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ""
 }
 
 // PodInfo contains runtime information about the pod running the Ingres controller