diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
index c11b2cc..e0fe848 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,23 @@ module Vmpooler
       Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:pool_names].include?(template)
     end
 
+    def provider_exists?(provider_name)
+      return false if Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers].nil?
+      return true if Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers]&.key?(provider_name)
+      Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers].each_key { |k| return true if Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers][k]['provider_class'] == provider_name }
+      false
+    end
+
+    def provider_config(provider_name, pool_name)
+      return Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers][provider_name] if Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers][provider_name]
+      pools.each do |pool|
+        if pool['name'] == pool_name
+          return Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers][pool['provider']] if Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:providers][pool['provider']]
+        end
+      end
+      return nil
+    end
+
     def need_auth!
       validate_auth(backend)
     end
@@ -150,7 +167,13 @@ module Vmpooler
             next if vms.empty?
 
             vms.reverse.each do |vm|
-              ready = vm_ready?(vm, config['domain'])
+              # do one last check that the VM is reachable before handing it over. Unfortunately the provider context does
+              # not exist here, so it needs to infer the domain here
+              if provider_exists?('gce')
+                domain = provider_config('gce', template_backend)['dns_zone'] if provider_config('gce', template_backend) && provider_config('gce', template_backend)['dns_zone']
+              end
+
+              ready = vm_ready?(vm, domain || config['domain'])
               if ready
                 smoved = backend.smove("vmpooler__ready__#{template_backend}", "vmpooler__running__#{template_backend}", vm)
                 if smoved
diff --git a/spec/integration/api/v1/vm_spec.rb b/spec/integration/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
index 0d06585..2907b17 100644
--- a/spec/integration/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,54 @@ describe Vmpooler::API::V1 do
     end
 
     describe 'POST /vm' do
+      context 'has a gce provider config' do
+        it 'get the dsn_zone as domain when gce provider' do
+          create_ready_vm 'pool1', vmname, redis
+          # change running config
+          app.settings.set :config, providers: { 'gce' => { 'dns_zone' => 'example.com' } }
+          expect_any_instance_of(Vmpooler::API::Helpers).to receive(:open_socket).with(vmname, "example.com")
+          post "#{prefix}/vm", '{"pool1":"1"}'
+        end
+
+        it 'get the dsn_zone as domain when foo provider has provider_class set to gce' do
+          create_ready_vm 'pool1', vmname, redis
+          # change running config
+          app.settings.set :config, providers: { 'foo' => { 'dns_zone' => 'example.com', 'provider_class' => 'gce' } }
+          app.settings.set :config, pools: [ {'name' => 'pool1', 'size' => 5, 'provider' => 'foo'} ]
+          expect_any_instance_of(Vmpooler::API::Helpers).to receive(:open_socket).with(vmname, "example.com")
+          post "#{prefix}/vm", '{"pool1":"1"}'
+        end
+
+        it 'skips when dsn_zone is not available' do
+          create_ready_vm 'pool1', vmname, redis
+          # change running config
+          app.settings.set :config, providers: { 'foo' => { 'dns_zone' => 'example.com', 'provider_class' => 'gce' },
+                                                        'bar' => { 'provider_class' => 'gce' } }
+          app.settings.set :config, pools: [ {'name' => 'pool1', 'size' => 5, 'provider' => 'bar'} ]
+          expect_any_instance_of(Vmpooler::API::Helpers).to receive(:open_socket).with(vmname, nil)
+          post "#{prefix}/vm", '{"pool1":"1"}'
+        end
+
+        it 'skips when it is another provider that does not exist' do
+          create_ready_vm 'pool1', vmname, redis
+          # change running config
+          app.settings.set :config, providers: { 'foo' => { 'dns_zone' => 'example.com', 'provider_class' => 'gce' },
+                                                 'bar' => { 'provider_class' => 'another' } }
+          app.settings.set :config, pools: [ {'name' => 'pool1', 'size' => 5, 'provider' => 'not_set'} ]
+          expect_any_instance_of(Vmpooler::API::Helpers).to receive(:open_socket).with(vmname, nil)
+          post "#{prefix}/vm", '{"pool1":"1"}'
+        end
+
+        it 'skips when it is another provider' do
+          create_ready_vm 'pool1', vmname, redis
+          # change running config
+          app.settings.set :config, providers: { 'foo' => { 'dns_zone' => 'example.com', 'provider_class' => 'gce' },
+                                                 'bar' => { 'provider_class' => 'another' } }
+          app.settings.set :config, pools: [ {'name' => 'pool1', 'size' => 5, 'provider' => 'bar'} ]
+          expect_any_instance_of(Vmpooler::API::Helpers).to receive(:open_socket).with(vmname, nil)
+          post "#{prefix}/vm", '{"pool1":"1"}'
+        end
+      end
 
       let(:socket) { double('socket') }
       it 'returns a single VM' do