diff --git a/garden-service/src/actions.ts b/garden-service/src/actions.ts
index 83ff4c7813..1ad74f4248 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/actions.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/actions.ts
@@ -158,8 +158,8 @@ export class ActionHelper implements TypeGuard {
     if (!allowUserInput && needManualInit.length > 0) {
       const names = needManualInit.map(s => s.name).join(", ")
       const msgPrefix = needManualInit.length === 1
-        ? `Plugin ${names} has been updated or hasn't been configured, and requires user input.`
-        : `Plugins ${names} have been updated or haven't been configured, and require user input.`
+        ? `Provider ${names} has been updated or hasn't been configured, and requires manual initialization.`
+        : `Providers ${names} have been updated or haven't been configured, and require manual initialization.`
 
       entry.setError()
 
diff --git a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
index 784cb213c7..89e76c634e 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/plugins/kubernetes/init.ts
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ export async function getEnvironmentStatus({ ctx, log }: GetEnvironmentStatusPar
 
     // We always require manual init if we're installing any system services to remote clusters, to avoid conflicts
     // between users or unnecessary work.
-    needManualInit = true
+    needManualInit = ctx.provider.name !== "local-kubernetes"
   }
 
   const detail = { systemReady, projectReady }