diff --git a/aws-java-eks-minimal/src/main/java/com/pulumi/example/eksminimal/App.java b/aws-java-eks-minimal/src/main/java/com/pulumi/example/eksminimal/App.java
index 43d544268..60a8ab011 100644
--- a/aws-java-eks-minimal/src/main/java/com/pulumi/example/eksminimal/App.java
+++ b/aws-java-eks-minimal/src/main/java/com/pulumi/example/eksminimal/App.java
@@ -3,13 +3,14 @@
 import com.pulumi.Context;
 import com.pulumi.Pulumi;
 import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.Ec2Functions;
-import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.inputs.GetSubnetIdsArgs;
+import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.inputs.GetSubnetsArgs;
+import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.inputs.GetSubnetsFilterArgs;
 import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.inputs.GetVpcArgs;
 import com.pulumi.aws.ec2.outputs.GetVpcResult;
-import com.pulumi.core.Output;
 import com.pulumi.eks.Cluster;
 import com.pulumi.eks.ClusterArgs;
 
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 public class App {
@@ -18,32 +19,61 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
     }
 
     private static void stack(Context ctx) {
-        var vpcIdOutput = Ec2Functions.getVpc(
+
+        // Find the default VPC identifier.
+        final var defaultVpcId = Ec2Functions.getVpc(
                 GetVpcArgs.builder().default_(true).build()
         ).applyValue(GetVpcResult::id);
-        ctx.export("vpcIdOutput", vpcIdOutput);
-
-        var subnetIdsOutput = vpcIdOutput
-                .apply(vpcId -> Ec2Functions.getSubnetIds(GetSubnetIdsArgs.builder()
-                                .vpcId(vpcId)
-                                .build()))
-                .applyValue(getSubnetIdsResult ->
-                        getSubnetIdsResult.ids()
-                                .stream()
-                                .sorted()
-                                .limit(2)
-                                .collect(Collectors.toList()));
-
-        ctx.export("subnetIdsOutput", subnetIdsOutput.applyValue(vs -> String.join(",", vs)));
-
-        var cluster = new Cluster("my-cluster", ClusterArgs.builder()
-                .vpcId(vpcIdOutput)
-                .subnetIds(subnetIdsOutput)
+
+        // Export it for visibility via `pulumi stack output`.
+        ctx.export("defaultVpcId", defaultVpcId);
+
+        // Find all the subnets in the default VPC.
+        final var allSubnetIds = Ec2Functions.getSubnets(GetSubnetsArgs.builder()
+                        .filters(GetSubnetsFilterArgs.builder()
+                                .name("vpc-id")
+                                .values(defaultVpcId.applyValue(List::of))
+                                .build())
+                        .build())
+                .applyValue(result -> result.ids()
+                        .stream()
+                        .sorted()
+                        .limit(2)
+                        .collect(Collectors.toList()));
+
+        // Fail if there are not enough subnets available (the example requires at least 2).
+        ctx.export("totalSubnetCount", allSubnetIds.applyValue(ids -> {
+            final var n = ids.size();
+            if (n < 2) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(String.format(
+                        "This example requires at least 2 subnets in the default VPC, but found only %s", n));
+            }
+            return n;
+        }));
+
+        // Select 2 subnets only to speed up the example.
+        final var selectedSubnetIds = allSubnetIds
+                .applyValue(ids -> ids.stream().limit(2).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+
+        // Export it for visibility via `pulumi stack output`.
+        ctx.export("selectedSubnetIds", selectedSubnetIds.applyValue(ids -> String.join(",", ids)));
+
+        // Provision an EKS cluster in the given VPC and selected subnets.
+        final var cluster = new Cluster("my-cluster", ClusterArgs.builder()
+                .vpcId(defaultVpcId)
+                .subnetIds(selectedSubnetIds)
                 .instanceType("t2.micro")
                 .minSize(1)
                 .maxSize(2)
                 .build());
 
+        // Export `kubeconfig` to enable interacting with the cluster from the command line:
+        //
+        // $ pulumi stack output kubeconfig --show-secrets > kubeconfig
+        // $ export KUBECONFIG=$PWD/kubeconfig
+        // $ kubectl version
+        // $ kubectl cluster-info
+        // $ kubectl get nodes
         ctx.export("kubeconfig", cluster.kubeconfig());
     }
 }