diff --git a/test/e2e/iptables-vpc-nat-gw/e2e_test.go b/test/e2e/iptables-vpc-nat-gw/e2e_test.go
index cf0762d0738e..ef18c9bba866 100644
--- a/test/e2e/iptables-vpc-nat-gw/e2e_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/iptables-vpc-nat-gw/e2e_test.go
@@ -1112,12 +1112,10 @@ var _ = framework.Describe("[group:qos-policy]", func() {
 			clusterName = cluster
 		}
 
-		if dockerExtNetNetwork == nil {
-			ginkgo.By("Ensuring docker network " + dockerExtNetName + " exists")
-			network, err := docker.NetworkCreate(dockerExtNetName, true, true)
-			framework.ExpectNoError(err, "creating docker network "+dockerExtNetName)
-			dockerExtNetNetwork = network
-		}
+		ginkgo.By("Ensuring docker network " + dockerExtNetName + " exists")
+		network, err := docker.NetworkCreate(dockerExtNetName, true, true)
+		framework.ExpectNoError(err, "creating docker network "+dockerExtNetName)
+		dockerExtNetNetwork = network
 
 		ginkgo.By("Getting kind nodes")
 		nodes, err := kind.ListNodes(clusterName, "")