diff --git a/templates/tools/dockerfile/node_deps.include b/templates/tools/dockerfile/node_deps.include
index 7855fbfee36..2f7d0d3abbc 100644
--- a/templates/tools/dockerfile/node_deps.include
+++ b/templates/tools/dockerfile/node_deps.include
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 RUN touch .profile
 RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.25.4/install.sh | bash
 # Install all versions of node that we want to test
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 0.12 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 4"
\ No newline at end of file
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 6 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 8 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 8"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/dockerfile/interoptest/grpc_interop_node/Dockerfile b/tools/dockerfile/interoptest/grpc_interop_node/Dockerfile
index b8e584af7a7..c59b12d1556 100644
--- a/tools/dockerfile/interoptest/grpc_interop_node/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/dockerfile/interoptest/grpc_interop_node/Dockerfile
@@ -70,10 +70,11 @@ RUN pip install futures==2.2.0 enum34==1.0.4 protobuf==3.2.0 six==1.10.0
 RUN touch .profile
 RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.25.4/install.sh | bash
 # Install all versions of node that we want to test
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 0.12 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 4"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 6 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 8 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 8"
 # Prepare ccache
 RUN ln -s /usr/bin/ccache /usr/local/bin/gcc
 RUN ln -s /usr/bin/ccache /usr/local/bin/g++
diff --git a/tools/dockerfile/test/multilang_jessie_x64/Dockerfile b/tools/dockerfile/test/multilang_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
index 2d22bb567bf..b7373b5d9c3 100644
--- a/tools/dockerfile/test/multilang_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/dockerfile/test/multilang_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
@@ -81,10 +81,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y install libgflags-dev libgtest-dev libc++-dev c
 RUN touch .profile
 RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.25.4/install.sh | bash
 # Install all versions of node that we want to test
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 0.12 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 4"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 6 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 8 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 8"
 #=================
 # PHP dependencies
 
diff --git a/tools/dockerfile/test/node_jessie_x64/Dockerfile b/tools/dockerfile/test/node_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
index f6ea639f6cd..31602e594ec 100644
--- a/tools/dockerfile/test/node_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/dockerfile/test/node_jessie_x64/Dockerfile
@@ -85,10 +85,11 @@ RUN pip install futures==2.2.0 enum34==1.0.4 protobuf==3.2.0 six==1.10.0
 RUN touch .profile
 RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.25.4/install.sh | bash
 # Install all versions of node that we want to test
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 0.12 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache"
-RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 4"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 4 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 5 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 6 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm install 8 && npm config set cache /tmp/npm-cache && npm install -g npm"
+RUN /bin/bash -l -c "nvm alias default 8"
 # Prepare ccache
 RUN ln -s /usr/bin/ccache /usr/local/bin/gcc
 RUN ln -s /usr/bin/ccache /usr/local/bin/g++
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_artifact_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_artifact_node.sh
index 9d390831b85..581df721aed 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_artifact_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_artifact_node.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 NODE_TARGET_ARCH=$1
 source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 
-nvm use 4
+nvm use 8
 set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)/../../..
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_package_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_package_node.sh
index 69cea3d1373..2860f68bc44 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_package_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/artifacts/build_package_node.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 
-nvm use 4
+nvm use 8
 set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)/../../..
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/build_node_electron.sh b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/build_node_electron.sh
index 5835235970d..424da2c6e3e 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/build_node_electron.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/build_node_electron.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 ELECTRON_VERSION=$1
 source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 
-nvm use 6
+nvm use 8
 set -ex
 
 # change to grpc repo root
@@ -28,4 +28,5 @@ export npm_config_disturl=https://atom.io/download/atom-shell
 export npm_config_runtime=electron
 export npm_config_build_from_source=true
 mkdir -p ~/.electron-gyp
+HOME=~/.electron-gyp npm update --prefer-online
 HOME=~/.electron-gyp npm install --unsafe-perm
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node.sh
index f41da71d221..d4702b8705e 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@ source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 nvm install $NODE_VERSION
 set -ex
 
-# Update npm to at least version 5
-npm update -g npm
-
 export GRPC_CONFIG=${CONFIG:-opt}
 
 npm update --prefer-online
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node_electron.sh b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node_electron.sh
index d42d70d2140..29394d294f6 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node_electron.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/pre_build_node_electron.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 ELECTRON_VERSION=$1
 
-nvm install 6
+nvm install 8
 set -ex
 
 npm install xvfb-maybe
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/run_node_electron.sh b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/run_node_electron.sh
index 37d3fa04591..7d436b02cb5 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/run_node_electron.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/helper_scripts/run_node_electron.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 
-nvm use 6
+nvm use 8
 set -ex
 
 # change to grpc repo root
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/performance/run_worker_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/performance/run_worker_node.sh
index 16c473ffda0..1286c831fb0 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/performance/run_worker_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/performance/run_worker_node.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
-nvm use 7
+nvm use 8
 
 set -ex