diff --git a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
index 2f245260b325..e20bd9a3f9d6 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import com.google.api.services.datastore.client.DatastoreException;
 import com.google.api.services.datastore.client.DatastoreFactory;
 import com.google.api.services.datastore.client.DatastoreOptions.Builder;
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.gcloud.datastore.DatastoreOptions;
 import com.google.gcloud.spi.DatastoreRpc.DatastoreRpcException.Reason;
@@ -40,6 +41,10 @@
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.json.JSONTokener;
 
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -62,14 +67,45 @@ public class DefaultDatastoreRpc implements DatastoreRpc {
   }
 
   public DefaultDatastoreRpc(DatastoreOptions options) {
+    String normalizedHost = normalizeHost(options.host());
     client = DatastoreFactory.get().create(
         new Builder()
             .dataset(options.projectId())
-            .host(options.host())
+            .host(normalizedHost)
             .initializer(options.httpRequestInitializer())
             .build());
   }
 
+  private static String normalizeHost(String host) {
+    host = host.toLowerCase();
+    if (includesScheme(host)) {
+      Preconditions.checkArgument(!(host.startsWith("https://") && isLocalHost(host)), 
+          "\"https\" is not supported for localhost.  Use \"http\" instead.");
+      return host;
+    }
+    return "http://" + host;
+  }
+
+  private static boolean isLocalHost(String host) {
+    if (host != null) {
+      try {
+        String normalizedHost = host;
+        if (!includesScheme(normalizedHost)) {
+          normalizedHost = "http://" + normalizedHost;
+        }
+        InetAddress hostAddr = InetAddress.getByName(new URL(normalizedHost).getHost());
+        return hostAddr.isAnyLocalAddress() || hostAddr.isLoopbackAddress();
+      } catch (UnknownHostException | MalformedURLException e) {
+        // ignore
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  private static boolean includesScheme(String url) {
+    return url.startsWith("http://") || url.startsWith("https://");
+  }
+
   private static DatastoreRpcException translate(DatastoreException exception) {
     String message = exception.getMessage();
     String reasonStr = "";
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/testing/RemoteGcsHelper.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/testing/RemoteGcsHelper.java
index 60cad7032178..e4d92b71a940 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/testing/RemoteGcsHelper.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/testing/RemoteGcsHelper.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.gcloud.AuthCredentials;
 import com.google.gcloud.storage.BlobInfo;
+import com.google.gcloud.RetryParams;
 import com.google.gcloud.storage.Storage;
 import com.google.gcloud.storage.StorageException;
 import com.google.gcloud.storage.StorageOptions;
@@ -96,50 +97,37 @@ public static String generateBucketName() {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Creates a {@code RemoteGcsHelper} object.
+   * Creates a {@code RemoteGcsHelper} object for the given project id and JSON key path.
    *
+   * @param projectId id of the project to be used for running the tests
+   * @param keyPath path to the JSON key to be used for running the tests
    * @param options creation options
    * @return A {@code RemoteGcsHelper} object for the provided options.
-   * @throws com.google.gcloud.storage.testing.RemoteGcsHelper.GcsHelperException if environment variables
-   * {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_PROJECT_ID} and {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_KEY} are not set or if the file
-   * pointed by {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_KEY} does not exist
+   * @throws com.google.gcloud.storage.testing.RemoteGcsHelper.GcsHelperException if the file pointed by 
+   * {@code keyPath} does not exist
    */
-  public static RemoteGcsHelper create(Option... options) throws GcsHelperException {
+  public static RemoteGcsHelper create(String projectId, String keyPath, Option... options)
+      throws GcsHelperException {
     boolean keyFromClassPath = false;
     Map<Class<? extends Option>, Option> optionsMap = Option.asImmutableMap(options);
     if (optionsMap.containsKey(KeyFromClasspath.class)) {
       keyFromClassPath =
           ((KeyFromClasspath) optionsMap.get(KeyFromClasspath.class)).keyFromClasspath();
     }
-    String projectId = System.getenv(PROJECT_ID_ENV_VAR);
-    String stringKeyPath = System.getenv(PRIVATE_KEY_ENV_VAR);
-    if (projectId == null) {
-      String message = "Environment variable " + PROJECT_ID_ENV_VAR + " not set";
-      if (log.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-        log.log(Level.WARNING, message);
-      }
-      throw new GcsHelperException(message);
-    }
-    if (stringKeyPath == null) {
-      String message = "Environment variable " + PRIVATE_KEY_ENV_VAR + " not set";
-      if (log.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-        log.log(Level.WARNING, message);
-      }
-      throw new GcsHelperException(message);
-    }
     try {
       InputStream keyFileStream;
       if (keyFromClassPath) {
-        keyFileStream = RemoteGcsHelper.class.getResourceAsStream(stringKeyPath);
+        keyFileStream = RemoteGcsHelper.class.getResourceAsStream(keyPath);
         if (keyFileStream == null) {
-          throw new FileNotFoundException(stringKeyPath + " not found in classpath");
+          throw new FileNotFoundException(keyPath + " not found in classpath");
         }
       } else {
-        keyFileStream = new FileInputStream(stringKeyPath);
+        keyFileStream = new FileInputStream(keyPath);
       }
       StorageOptions storageOptions = StorageOptions.builder()
           .authCredentials(AuthCredentials.createForJson(keyFileStream))
           .projectId(projectId)
+          .retryParams(RetryParams.getDefaultInstance())
           .build();
       return new RemoteGcsHelper(storageOptions);
     } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
@@ -155,6 +143,36 @@ public static RemoteGcsHelper create(Option... options) throws GcsHelperExceptio
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Creates a {@code RemoteGcsHelper} object. Project id and path to JSON key are read from two
+   * environment variables: {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_PROJECT_ID} and {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_KEY}.
+   *
+   * @param options creation options
+   * @return A {@code RemoteGcsHelper} object for the provided options.
+   * @throws com.google.gcloud.storage.testing.RemoteGcsHelper.GcsHelperException if environment variables
+   * {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_PROJECT_ID} and {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_KEY} are not set or if the file
+   * pointed by {@code GCLOUD_TESTS_KEY} does not exist
+   */
+  public static RemoteGcsHelper create(Option... options) throws GcsHelperException {
+    String projectId = System.getenv(PROJECT_ID_ENV_VAR);
+    String keyPath = System.getenv(PRIVATE_KEY_ENV_VAR);
+    if (projectId == null) {
+      String message = "Environment variable " + PROJECT_ID_ENV_VAR + " not set";
+      if (log.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
+        log.log(Level.WARNING, message);
+      }
+      throw new GcsHelperException(message);
+    }
+    if (keyPath == null) {
+      String message = "Environment variable " + PRIVATE_KEY_ENV_VAR + " not set";
+      if (log.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
+        log.log(Level.WARNING, message);
+      }
+      throw new GcsHelperException(message);
+    }
+    return create(projectId, keyPath, options);
+  }
+
   private static class DeleteBucketTask implements Callable<Boolean> {
 
     private Storage storage;
diff --git a/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/ITStorageTest.java b/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/ITStorageTest.java
index 424bb061cf74..4c3ff1fa9a7c 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/ITStorageTest.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-storage/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/storage/ITStorageTest.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public static void beforeClass() {
   @AfterClass
   public static void afterClass()
       throws ExecutionException, TimeoutException, InterruptedException {
-    if (!RemoteGcsHelper.forceDelete(storage, bucket, 5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+    if (storage != null && !RemoteGcsHelper.forceDelete(storage, bucket, 5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
       if (log.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
         log.log(Level.WARNING, "Deletion of bucket {0} timed out, bucket is not empty", bucket);
       }