diff --git a/test/e2e/air_gapped_test.go b/test/e2e/air_gapped_test.go
index 8168287e0..20a63d1f3 100644
--- a/test/e2e/air_gapped_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/air_gapped_test.go
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ import (
 
 var _ = Describe("Install Core Provider in an air-gapped environment", func() {
 	It("should successfully create config maps with Core Provider manifests", func() {
+		// Ensure that there are no Cluster API installed
+		deleteClusterAPICRDs(bootstrapClusterProxy)
+
 		bootstrapCluster := bootstrapClusterProxy.GetClient()
 		configMaps := []corev1.ConfigMap{}
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
index c6aa0b2b5..8fd778ba9 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
@@ -30,8 +30,10 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 	operatorv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-operator/api/v1alpha1"
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/test/framework/bootstrap"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/test/framework/clusterctl"
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 )
 
@@ -334,6 +337,25 @@ func ensureCertManager(clusterProxy framework.ClusterProxy, config *clusterctl.E
 	})
 }
 
+func deleteClusterAPICRDs(clusterProxy framework.ClusterProxy) {
+	// To get all Cluster API CRDs we need filter them by labels:
+	//   cluster.x-k8s.io/provider: cluster-api
+	//   clusterctl.cluster.x-k8s.io: ""
+	crds := &apiextensionsv1.CustomResourceDefinitionList{}
+	Expect(clusterProxy.GetClient().List(ctx, crds, &client.ListOptions{
+		LabelSelector: labels.SelectorFromSet(
+			map[string]string{
+				"cluster.x-k8s.io/provider":   "cluster-api",
+				"clusterctl.cluster.x-k8s.io": "",
+			},
+		),
+	})).To(Succeed())
+
+	for _, crd := range crds.Items {
+		Expect(clusterProxy.GetClient().Delete(ctx, &crd)).To(Succeed())
+	}
+}
+
 func initHelmChart() {
 	helmChart = &HelmChart{
 		BinaryPath: helmBinaryPath,
diff --git a/test/go.mod b/test/go.mod
index 0c6c53f12..be10ed7f8 100644
--- a/test/go.mod
+++ b/test/go.mod
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.30.0
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.14.0
 	k8s.io/api v0.28.4
+	k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver v0.28.4
 	k8s.io/apimachinery v0.28.4
 	k8s.io/klog/v2 v2.100.1
 	k8s.io/utils v0.0.0-20230726121419-3b25d923346b
@@ -121,7 +122,6 @@ require (
 	gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.4.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
-	k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver v0.28.4 // indirect
 	k8s.io/apiserver v0.28.4 // indirect
 	k8s.io/client-go v0.28.4 // indirect
 	k8s.io/cluster-bootstrap v0.28.4 // indirect