diff --git a/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go b/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
index a33dcc05b100..55feb239ba9f 100644
--- a/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
+++ b/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
@@ -207,6 +207,26 @@ func (so StartOpts) GetJoinTargets() []Node {
 	return nodes
 }
 
+// allowServiceRegistration is a gating function that prevents the usage of
+// service registration, with DNS services, in scenarios where it is not
+// supported. This is currently the case for non-GCE clusters and for clusters
+// that are not part of the default GCE project. For custom projects the DNS
+// services get garbage collected, hence the registration is not allowed.
+func (c *SyncedCluster) allowServiceRegistration() bool {
+	if c.IsLocal() {
+		return true
+	}
+	for _, cVM := range c.VMs {
+		if cVM.Provider != gce.ProviderName {
+			return false
+		}
+		if cVM.Project != gce.DefaultProject() {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 // maybeRegisterServices registers the SQL and Admin UI DNS services
 // for the cluster if no previous services for the virtual or storage
 // cluster are found. Any ports specified in the startOpts are used
@@ -345,28 +365,50 @@ func (c *SyncedCluster) Start(ctx context.Context, l *logger.Logger, startOpts S
 		return fmt.Errorf("start SQL proxy not implemented")
 	}
 
+	// Determine if custom ports were specified in the start options.
+	customPortsSpecified := func() bool {
+		if startOpts.SQLPort != 0 && startOpts.SQLPort != config.DefaultSQLPort {
+			return true
+		}
+		if startOpts.AdminUIPort != 0 && startOpts.AdminUIPort != config.DefaultAdminUIPort {
+			return true
+		}
+		return false
+	}
+
 	// Local clusters do not support specifying ports. An error is returned if we
 	// detect that they were set.
 	if c.IsLocal() {
+		if customPortsSpecified() {
+			return fmt.Errorf("local clusters do not support specifying ports")
+		}
 		// We don't need to return an error if the ports are the default values
 		// specified in DefaultStartOps, as these have not been specified explicitly
 		// by the user.
-		if startOpts.SQLPort != 0 && startOpts.SQLPort != config.DefaultSQLPort {
-			return fmt.Errorf("local clusters do not support specifying ports")
-		}
-		if startOpts.AdminUIPort != 0 && startOpts.AdminUIPort != config.DefaultAdminUIPort {
-			return fmt.Errorf("local clusters do not support specifying ports")
-		}
 		startOpts.SQLPort = 0
 		startOpts.AdminUIPort = 0
 	}
 
-	err := c.maybeRegisterServices(ctx, l, startOpts)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if c.allowServiceRegistration() {
+		err := c.maybeRegisterServices(ctx, l, startOpts)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else {
+		if customPortsSpecified() {
+			return fmt.Errorf("service registration is not supported for this cluster, but custom ports were specified")
+		}
+		l.Printf(strings.Join([]string{
+			"WARNING: Service registration and custom ports are not supported for this cluster.",
+			fmt.Sprintf("Setting ports to default SQL Port: %d, and Admin UI Port: %d.", config.DefaultSQLPort, config.DefaultAdminUIPort),
+			"Attempting to start any additional external SQL processes will fail.",
+		}, "\n"))
+		startOpts.SQLPort = config.DefaultSQLPort
+		startOpts.AdminUIPort = config.DefaultAdminUIPort
 	}
 
 	if startOpts.IsVirtualCluster() {
+		var err error
 		startOpts.VirtualClusterID, err = c.upsertVirtualClusterMetadata(ctx, l, startOpts)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/pkg/roachprod/install/services.go b/pkg/roachprod/install/services.go
index b0d28f93d4d2..3f996606b8df 100644
--- a/pkg/roachprod/install/services.go
+++ b/pkg/roachprod/install/services.go
@@ -215,9 +215,14 @@ func (c *SyncedCluster) DiscoverService(
 	}
 
 	// Finally, fall back to the default ports if no services are found. This is
-	// useful for backwards compatibility with clusters that were created before
-	// the introduction of service discovery, or without a DNS provider.
-	// TODO(Herko): Remove this once DNS support is fully functional.
+	// required for scenarios where the services were not registered with a DNS
+	// provider (Google DNS). Currently, services will not be registered with DNS
+	// for clusters not on GCP, and it will also not be registered for GCP
+	// clusters that specify a custom project. The fall back is also useful for
+	// backwards compatibility with clusters that were created before the
+	// introduction of service discovery, or without a DNS provider.
+	// TODO(Herko): Remove this once DNS support is fully
+	// functional.
 	if len(services) == 0 {
 		var port int
 		switch serviceType {