diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0bae549f5..afb775ef7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ CG_BIN_FILE=confgenerator
 NETFLOW_GENERATOR=nflow-generator
 CMD_DIR=./cmd/
 FLP_CONF_FILE ?= contrib/kubernetes/flowlogs-pipeline.conf.yaml
+KIND_CLUSTER_NAME ?= kind
 
 BUILD_DATE := $(shell date +%Y-%m-%d\ %H:%M)
 TAG_COMMIT := $(shell git rev-list --abbrev-commit --tags --max-count=1)
@@ -221,24 +222,24 @@ undeploy-netflow-simulator: ## Undeploy netflow simulator
 
 .PHONY: create-kind-cluster
 create-kind-cluster: $(KIND) ## Create cluster
-	$(KIND) create cluster --config contrib/kubernetes/kind/kind.config.yaml
+	$(KIND) create cluster --name $(KIND_CLUSTER_NAME) --config contrib/kubernetes/kind/kind.config.yaml
 	kubectl cluster-info --context kind-kind
 
 .PHONY: delete-kind-cluster
 delete-kind-cluster: $(KIND) ## Delete cluster
-	$(KIND) delete cluster
+	$(KIND) delete cluster --name $(KIND_CLUSTER_NAME)
 
 .PHONY: kind-load-image
 kind-load-image: ## Load image to kind
 ifeq ($(OCI_RUNTIME),$(shell which docker))
 # This is an optimization for docker provider. "kind load docker-image" can load an image directly from docker's
 # local registry. For other providers (i.e. podman), we must use "kind load image-archive" instead.
-	$(KIND) load docker-image $(DOCKER_IMG):$(DOCKER_TAG)
+	$(KIND) load --name $(KIND_CLUSTER_NAME) docker-image $(DOCKER_IMG):$(DOCKER_TAG)
 else
 	$(eval tmpfile="/tmp/flp.tar")
 	-rm $(tmpfile)
 	$(OCI_RUNTIME) save $(DOCKER_IMG):$(DOCKER_TAG) -o $(tmpfile)
-	$(KIND) load image-archive $(tmpfile)
+	$(KIND) load --name $(KIND_CLUSTER_NAME) image-archive $(tmpfile)
 	-rm $(tmpfile)
 endif
 
diff --git a/pkg/test/e2e/utils.go b/pkg/test/e2e/utils.go
index c9f71760b..d01971150 100644
--- a/pkg/test/e2e/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/test/e2e/utils.go
@@ -91,27 +91,18 @@ func e2eDeleteKindCluster(clusterName string) env.Func {
 	}
 }
 
-// NOTE: the e2e framework uses `kind load` command that forces usage of docker (and not podman)
-// ref: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/issues/2027
 func e2eBuildAndLoadImageIntoKind(dockerImg, dockerTag, clusterName string) env.Func {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, cfg *envconf.Config) (context.Context, error) {
 		e := gexe.New()
 		fmt.Printf("====> building docker image - %s:%s\n", dockerImg, dockerTag)
-		p := e.RunProc(fmt.Sprintf(`/bin/sh -c "cd $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel); OCI_RUNTIME=docker DOCKER_IMG=%s DOCKER_TAG=%s make build-image"`,
-			dockerImg, dockerTag))
+		p := e.RunProc(fmt.Sprintf(`/bin/sh -c "cd $(git rev-parse --show-toplevel); DOCKER_IMG=%s DOCKER_TAG=%s KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=%s make build-image kind-load-image"`,
+			dockerImg, dockerTag, clusterName))
 		if p.Err() != nil || !p.IsSuccess() || p.ExitCode() != 0 {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to building docker image err=%v result=%v", p.Err(), p.Result())
-		}
-		fmt.Printf("====> Done.\n")
-		fmt.Printf("====> Load image into kind \n")
-		p = e.RunProc(fmt.Sprintf("kind load --name %s docker-image %s:%s", clusterName, dockerImg, dockerTag))
-		if p.Err() != nil || !p.IsSuccess() || p.ExitCode() != 0 {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load image into kind err=%v result=%v", p.Err(), p.Result())
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to build or load docker image err=%v result=%v", p.Err(), p.Result())
 		}
 		fmt.Printf("====> Done.\n")
 		return ctx, nil
 	}
-
 }
 
 func e2eRecreateNamespace(name string) env.Func {