diff --git a/integration/cluster_test.go b/integration/cluster_test.go
index 9f4e0cb33..028aa92a0 100644
--- a/integration/cluster_test.go
+++ b/integration/cluster_test.go
@@ -23,21 +23,23 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
-	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/etcd/client"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/etcdserver"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/etcdserver/etcdhttp"
-	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/etcd/Godeps/_workspace/src/code.google.com/p/go.net/context"
 )
 
 const (
-	tickDuration = 10 * time.Millisecond
-	clusterName  = "etcd"
+	tickDuration   = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	clusterName    = "etcd"
+	requestTimeout = 2 * time.Second
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -52,41 +54,27 @@ func testCluster(t *testing.T, size int) {
 	defer afterTest(t)
 	c := &cluster{Size: size}
 	c.Launch(t)
+	defer c.Terminate(t)
 	for i := 0; i < size; i++ {
-		for _, u := range c.Members[i].ClientURLs {
+		for j, u := range c.Members[i].ClientURLs {
+			cc := mustNewHTTPClient(t, []string{u.String()})
+			kapi := client.NewKeysAPI(cc)
+			// TODO: we retry it here because MsgProp may be dropped due to
+			// sender reaches its max serving. make it reliable that we don't
+			// need to worry about it.
 			var err error
-			for j := 0; j < 3; j++ {
-				if err = setKey(u, "/foo", "bar"); err == nil {
+			for k := 0; k < 3; k++ {
+				ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), requestTimeout)
+				if _, err = kapi.Create(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("/%d%d%d", i, j, k), "bar", -1); err == nil {
 					break
 				}
+				cancel()
 			}
 			if err != nil {
-				t.Errorf("setKey on %v error: %v", u.String(), err)
+				t.Errorf("create on %s error: %v", u.String(), err)
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	c.Terminate(t)
-}
-
-// TODO: use etcd client
-func setKey(u url.URL, key string, value string) error {
-	u.Path = "/v2/keys" + key
-	v := url.Values{"value": []string{value}}
-	req, err := http.NewRequest("PUT", u.String(), strings.NewReader(v.Encode()))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
-	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
-	resp.Body.Close()
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK && resp.StatusCode != http.StatusCreated {
-		return fmt.Errorf("statusCode = %d, want %d or %d", resp.StatusCode, http.StatusOK, http.StatusCreated)
-	}
-	return nil
 }
 
 type cluster struct {
@@ -130,13 +118,7 @@ func (c *cluster) Launch(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 		m.NewCluster = true
-		m.Transport, err = transport.NewTransport(transport.TLSInfo{})
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		// TODO: need the support of graceful stop in Sender to remove this
-		m.Transport.DisableKeepAlives = true
-		m.Transport.Dial = (&net.Dialer{Timeout: 100 * time.Millisecond}).Dial
+		m.Transport = newTransport()
 
 		m.Launch(t)
 		c.Members = append(c.Members, m)
@@ -223,3 +205,19 @@ func (m *member) Terminate(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
+
+func mustNewHTTPClient(t *testing.T, eps []string) client.HTTPClient {
+	cc, err := client.NewHTTPClient(newTransport(), eps)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return cc
+}
+
+func newTransport() *http.Transport {
+	tr := &http.Transport{}
+	// TODO: need the support of graceful stop in Sender to remove this
+	tr.DisableKeepAlives = true
+	tr.Dial = (&net.Dialer{Timeout: 100 * time.Millisecond}).Dial
+	return tr
+}