diff --git a/google/resource_container_cluster.go b/google/resource_container_cluster.go
index 5933fe4b..ed6f61f6 100644
--- a/google/resource_container_cluster.go
+++ b/google/resource_container_cluster.go
@@ -634,6 +634,14 @@ func resourceContainerClusterCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// When parsing a subnetwork by name, we expect region or zone to be set.
+	// Users may have set location to either value, so set that value.
+	if isZone(location) {
+		d.Set("zone", location)
+	} else {
+		d.Set("region", location)
+	}
+
 	clusterName := d.Get("name").(string)
 
 	cluster := &containerBeta.Cluster{
diff --git a/google/resource_container_cluster_test.go b/google/resource_container_cluster_test.go
index e1c84fc0..bcec6597 100644
--- a/google/resource_container_cluster_test.go
+++ b/google/resource_container_cluster_test.go
@@ -1416,6 +1416,9 @@ resource "google_container_cluster" "primary" {
 	name               = "%s"
 	location           = "us-central1-a"
 	initial_node_count = 3
+
+	network    = "default"
+	subnetwork = "default"
 }`, name)
 }