diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yaml
index 30b7a6b3c..484d36248 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ on:
       - master
   pull_request:
 
+env:
+  REPOSITORY: koperator_e2e_test  
+
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -18,15 +21,24 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      
+      - name: Build docker image
+        run: |
+          IMG=$REPOSITORY:$GITHUB_SHA make docker-build
 
       - name: Setup Kind cluster
         id: setup-kind
         uses: ./.github/actions/kind-create
 
-      - name: run tests
+      - name: Load image into kind cluster
+        run: |
+          kind load docker-image $REPOSITORY:$GITHUB_SHA --name e2e-kind
+
+
+      - name: Run E2E tests
         env:
            KUBECONFIG: ${{ steps.setup-kind.outputs.kubeconfig }}
         run: |
           go work init
           go work use -r .
-          make test-e2e
+          IMG_E2E=$REPOSITORY:$GITHUB_SHA make test-e2e
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 52c993e0f..ef78467e8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -97,8 +97,9 @@ test: generate fmt vet manifests bin/setup-envtest ## Run unit and integration (
 		-timeout 1h
 	cd properties && go test -coverprofile cover.out -cover -failfast -v -covermode=count ./pkg/... ./internal/...
 
-test-e2e: # Run e2e tests.
-	go test github.com/banzaicloud/koperator/tests/e2e \
+# Run e2e tests
+test-e2e:
+	 IMG_E2E=${IMG_E2E} go test github.com/banzaicloud/koperator/tests/e2e \
 		-v \
 		-timeout 20m \
 		-tags e2e \
diff --git a/tests/e2e/global.go b/tests/e2e/global.go
index 3935a19e6..6baa274f4 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/global.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/global.go
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ package e2e
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // HelmDescriptors.
@@ -35,18 +37,39 @@ var (
 
 	// koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor describes the Koperator Helm component with
 	// a local chart and version.
-	koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor = helmDescriptor{
-		Repository:   "../../charts/kafka-operator",
-		ChartVersion: LocalVersion,
-		ReleaseName:  "kafka-operator",
-		Namespace:    "kafka",
-		LocalCRDSubpaths: []string{
-			"crds/cruisecontroloperations.yaml",
-			"crds/kafkaclusters.yaml",
-			"crds/kafkatopics.yaml",
-			"crds/kafkausers.yaml",
-		},
-	}
+	koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor = func() helmDescriptor {
+		koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor := helmDescriptor{
+			Repository:   "../../charts/kafka-operator",
+			ChartVersion: LocalVersion,
+			ReleaseName:  "kafka-operator",
+			Namespace:    "kafka",
+			LocalCRDSubpaths: []string{
+				"crds/cruisecontroloperations.yaml",
+				"crds/kafkaclusters.yaml",
+				"crds/kafkatopics.yaml",
+				"crds/kafkausers.yaml",
+			},
+		}
+		// Set helm chart values for Koperator to be able to use custom image
+		koperatorImagePath := os.Getenv("IMG_E2E")
+		if koperatorImagePath != "" {
+			koperatorImagePathSplit := strings.Split(koperatorImagePath, ":")
+
+			koperatorImageRepository := koperatorImagePathSplit[0]
+			koperatorImageTag := "latest"
+
+			if len(koperatorImagePathSplit) == 2 {
+				koperatorImageTag = koperatorImagePathSplit[1]
+			}
+
+			koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor.SetValues = map[string]string{
+				"operator.image.repository": koperatorImageRepository,
+				"operator.image.tag":        koperatorImageTag,
+			}
+		}
+
+		return koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor
+	}()
 
 	// koperatorLocalHelmDescriptor describes the Koperator Helm component with
 	// a remote latest chart and version.