diff --git a/hail/hail-ci-build.sh b/hail/hail-ci-build.sh
index 98e9e7c768b..b1503118b2f 100644
--- a/hail/hail-ci-build.sh
+++ b/hail/hail-ci-build.sh
@@ -241,11 +241,9 @@ test_gcp() {
          --zip gs://hail-ci-0-1/temp/$SOURCE_SHA/$TARGET_SHA/hail.zip \
          --vep
 
-    time cluster submit ${CLUSTER_NAME} \
-         cluster-sanity-check.py
-
-    time cluster submit ${CLUSTER_NAME} \
-         cluster-vep-check.py
+    for script in python/cluster-tests/**.py; do
+        time cluster submit ${CLUSTER_NAME} $script
+    done
 
     time cluster stop ${CLUSTER_NAME} --async
     touch ${GCP_SUCCESS}
diff --git a/hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-read-vcfs-check.py b/hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-read-vcfs-check.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d9138a9f1ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-read-vcfs-check.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import json
+import hail as hl
+
+gvcfs = ['gs://hail-ci/gvcfs/HG00096.g.vcf.gz',
+         'gs://hail-ci/gvcfs/HG00268.g.vcf.gz']
+hl.init(default_reference='GRCh38')
+parts = [
+    {'start': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 17821257}},
+     'end': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 18708366}},
+     'includeStart': True,
+     'includeEnd': True},
+    {'start': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 18708367}},
+     'end': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 19776611}},
+     'includeStart': True,
+     'includeEnd': True},
+    {'start': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 19776612}},
+     'end': {'locus': {'contig': 'chr20', 'position': 21144633}},
+     'includeStart': True,
+     'includeEnd': True},
+]
+parts_str = json.dumps(parts)
+vcfs = hl.import_vcfs(gvcfs, parts_str)
diff --git a/hail/cluster-sanity-check.py b/hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-sanity-check.py
similarity index 100%
rename from hail/cluster-sanity-check.py
rename to hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-sanity-check.py
diff --git a/hail/cluster-vep-check.py b/hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-vep-check.py
similarity index 100%
rename from hail/cluster-vep-check.py
rename to hail/python/cluster-tests/cluster-vep-check.py
diff --git a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/tabix/TabixReader.scala b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/tabix/TabixReader.scala
index 277e2bd46b8..9b99decc8e8 100644
--- a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/tabix/TabixReader.scala
+++ b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/tabix/TabixReader.scala
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ object TabixReader {
 
 }
 
-class TabixReader(val filePath: String, private val idxFilePath: Option[String] = None) {
+class TabixReader(val filePath: String, private val hConf: hd.conf.Configuration, private val idxFilePath: Option[String] = None) {
   import TabixReader._
 
   val indexPath: String = idxFilePath match {
@@ -108,8 +108,6 @@ class TabixReader(val filePath: String, private val idxFilePath: Option[String]
     }
   }
 
-  private val hConf = HailContext.get.hadoopConf
-
   val index: Tabix = hConf.readFile(indexPath) { is =>
     var buf = new Array[Byte](4)
     is.read(buf, 0, 4) // read magic bytes "TBI\1"
diff --git a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/vcf/LoadVCF.scala b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/vcf/LoadVCF.scala
index 28a922b6ccb..efffe8e123d 100644
--- a/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/vcf/LoadVCF.scala
+++ b/hail/src/main/scala/is/hail/io/vcf/LoadVCF.scala
@@ -1214,7 +1214,7 @@ case class VCFsReader(
         entryType = genotypeSignature)
 
       val partitions = {
-        val r = new TabixReader(file)
+        val r = new TabixReader(file, hConf)
         localRangeBounds.zipWithIndex.map { case (b, i) =>
           if (!(b.includesStart && b.includesEnd))
             fatal("range bounds must be inclusive")
diff --git a/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/io/TabixSuite.scala b/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/io/TabixSuite.scala
index 72a47e4a9ca..f2d35497dd6 100644
--- a/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/io/TabixSuite.scala
+++ b/hail/src/test/scala/is/hail/io/TabixSuite.scala
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ class TabixSuite extends SparkSuite {
   val vcfGzFile = vcfFile + ".gz"
   val vcfGzTbiFile = vcfGzFile + ".tbi"
 
-  lazy val reader = new TabixReader(vcfGzFile)
   lazy val bcConf = hc.sc.broadcast(new SerializableHadoopConfiguration(hc.hadoopConf))
+  lazy val reader = new TabixReader(vcfGzFile, hc.hadoopConf)
 
   @BeforeTest def initialize() {
     hc // reference to initialize
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class TabixSuite extends SparkSuite {
     val vcfFile = "src/test/resources/sample.vcf.bgz"
     val chr = "20"
     val htsjdkrdr = new HtsjdkTabixReader(vcfFile)
-    val hailrdr = new TabixReader(vcfFile)
+    val hailrdr = new TabixReader(vcfFile, hc.hadoopConf)
     val tid = hailrdr.chr2tid(chr)
 
     for ((start, end) <-