diff --git a/google/transport.go b/google/transport.go
index 5cdd5973..e06e2496 100644
--- a/google/transport.go
+++ b/google/transport.go
@@ -121,31 +121,39 @@ func addQueryParams(rawurl string, params map[string]string) (string, error) {
 
 func replaceVars(d TerraformResourceData, config *Config, linkTmpl string) (string, error) {
 	re := regexp.MustCompile("{{([[:word:]]+)}}")
+	f, err := buildReplacementFunc(re, d, config, linkTmpl)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return re.ReplaceAllStringFunc(linkTmpl, f), nil
+}
+
+func buildReplacementFunc(re *regexp.Regexp, d TerraformResourceData, config *Config, linkTmpl string) (func(string) string, error) {
 	var project, region, zone string
 	var err error
 
 	if strings.Contains(linkTmpl, "{{project}}") {
 		project, err = getProject(d, config)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
 	if strings.Contains(linkTmpl, "{{region}}") {
 		region, err = getRegion(d, config)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
 	if strings.Contains(linkTmpl, "{{zone}}") {
 		zone, err = getZone(d, config)
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
-	replaceFunc := func(s string) string {
+	f := func(s string) string {
 		m := re.FindStringSubmatch(s)[1]
 		if m == "project" {
 			return project
@@ -163,5 +171,5 @@ func replaceVars(d TerraformResourceData, config *Config, linkTmpl string) (stri
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	return re.ReplaceAllStringFunc(linkTmpl, replaceFunc), nil
+	return f, nil
 }