diff --git a/pkg/controller/machine/controller.go b/pkg/controller/machine/controller.go
index 19f258632cde..9ead8294580e 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/machine/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/machine/controller.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/klog"
 	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/pkg/apis/cluster/v1alpha1"
@@ -221,7 +222,18 @@ func (r *ReconcileMachine) delete(ctx context.Context, machine *clusterv1.Machin
 
 func (r *ReconcileMachine) getCluster(ctx context.Context, machine *clusterv1.Machine) (*clusterv1.Cluster, error) {
 	clusterList := clusterv1.ClusterList{}
-	if err := r.Client.List(ctx, client.InNamespace(machine.Namespace), &clusterList); err != nil {
+	listOptions := &client.ListOptions{
+		Namespace: machine.Namespace,
+		// This is set so the fake client can be used for unit test. See:
+		// https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/controller-runtime/issues/168
+		Raw: &metav1.ListOptions{
+			TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+				APIVersion: clusterv1.SchemeGroupVersion.String(),
+				Kind:       "Cluster",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	if err := r.Client.List(ctx, listOptions, &clusterList); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/machine/controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/machine/controller_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5e3201d78626
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/controller/machine/controller_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package machine
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/pkg/apis/cluster/v1alpha1"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/fake"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
+)
+
+func TestReconcileRequest(t *testing.T) {
+	machine1 := v1alpha1.Machine{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind: "Machine",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:       "create",
+			Namespace:  "default",
+			Finalizers: []string{v1alpha1.MachineFinalizer},
+		},
+	}
+	machine2 := v1alpha1.Machine{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind: "Machine",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:       "update",
+			Namespace:  "default",
+			Finalizers: []string{v1alpha1.MachineFinalizer},
+		},
+	}
+	time := metav1.Now()
+	machine3 := v1alpha1.Machine{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind: "Machine",
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:              "delete",
+			Namespace:         "default",
+			Finalizers:        []string{v1alpha1.MachineFinalizer},
+			DeletionTimestamp: &time,
+		},
+	}
+	clusterList := v1alpha1.ClusterList{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind: "ClusterList",
+		},
+		Items: []v1alpha1.Cluster{
+			{
+				TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+					Kind: "Cluster",
+				},
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "cluster",
+					Namespace: "default",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	type expected struct {
+		createCallCount int64
+		existCallCount  int64
+		updateCallCount int64
+		deleteCallCount int64
+		result          reconcile.Result
+		error           bool
+	}
+	testCases := []struct {
+		request     reconcile.Request
+		existsValue bool
+		expected    expected
+	}{
+		{
+			request: reconcile.Request{NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{Name: machine1.Name, Namespace: machine1.Namespace}},
+			expected: expected{
+				createCallCount: 1,
+				existCallCount:  1,
+				updateCallCount: 0,
+				deleteCallCount: 0,
+				result:          reconcile.Result{},
+				error:           false,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			request:     reconcile.Request{NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{Name: machine2.Name, Namespace: machine2.Namespace}},
+			existsValue: true,
+			expected: expected{
+				createCallCount: 0,
+				existCallCount:  1,
+				updateCallCount: 1,
+				deleteCallCount: 0,
+				result:          reconcile.Result{},
+				error:           false,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			request:     reconcile.Request{NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{Name: machine3.Name, Namespace: machine3.Namespace}},
+			existsValue: true,
+			expected: expected{
+				createCallCount: 0,
+				existCallCount:  0,
+				updateCallCount: 0,
+				deleteCallCount: 1,
+				result:          reconcile.Result{},
+				error:           false,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		act := newTestActuator()
+		act.ExistsValue = tc.existsValue
+		v1alpha1.AddToScheme(scheme.Scheme)
+		r := &ReconcileMachine{
+			Client:   fake.NewFakeClient(&clusterList, &machine1, &machine2, &machine3),
+			scheme:   scheme.Scheme,
+			actuator: act,
+		}
+
+		result, err := r.Reconcile(tc.request)
+		gotError := (err != nil)
+		if tc.expected.error != gotError {
+			var errorExpectation string
+			if !tc.expected.error {
+				errorExpectation = "no"
+			}
+			t.Errorf("Case: %s. Expected %s error, got: %v", tc.request.Name, errorExpectation, err)
+		}
+
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(result, tc.expected.result) {
+			t.Errorf("Case %s. Got: %v, expected %v", tc.request.Name, result, tc.expected.result)
+		}
+
+		if act.CreateCallCount != tc.expected.createCallCount {
+			t.Errorf("Case %s. Got: %d createCallCount, expected %d", tc.request.Name, act.CreateCallCount, tc.expected.createCallCount)
+		}
+
+		if act.UpdateCallCount != tc.expected.updateCallCount {
+			t.Errorf("Case %s. Got: %d updateCallCount, expected %d", tc.request.Name, act.UpdateCallCount, tc.expected.updateCallCount)
+		}
+
+		if act.ExistsCallCount != tc.expected.existCallCount {
+			t.Errorf("Case %s. Got: %d existCallCount, expected %d", tc.request.Name, act.ExistsCallCount, tc.expected.existCallCount)
+		}
+
+		if act.DeleteCallCount != tc.expected.deleteCallCount {
+			t.Errorf("Case %s. Got: %d deleteCallCount, expected %d", tc.request.Name, act.DeleteCallCount, tc.expected.deleteCallCount)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/machine/testactuator.go b/pkg/controller/machine/testactuator.go
index 8b58ab097055..5e5b165b61f4 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/machine/testactuator.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/machine/testactuator.go
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/pkg/apis/cluster/v1alpha1"
 )
 
+var _ Actuator = &TestActuator{}
+
 type TestActuator struct {
 	unblock         chan string
 	BlockOnCreate   bool