diff --git a/test/e2e-ocl/helpers_test.go b/test/e2e-ocl/helpers_test.go
index 94b744558d..12ae30d345 100644
--- a/test/e2e-ocl/helpers_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e-ocl/helpers_test.go
@@ -313,7 +313,12 @@ func cleanupEphemeralBuildObjects(t *testing.T, cs *framework.ClientSet) {
 	moscList, err := cs.MachineconfigurationV1Interface.MachineOSConfigs().List(context.TODO(), metav1.ListOptions{})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	kubeassert := helpers.AssertClientSet(t, cs)
+	// Create a dedicated context for cleanup verification with reasonable timeout.
+	// Cleanup should complete quickly - if verification takes >2 minutes, something is wrong.
+	// Use a slower poll interval (3s instead of 1s) to reduce API call rate and avoid rate limiting.
+	cleanupCtx, cleanupCancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 2*time.Minute)
+	defer cleanupCancel()
+	kubeassert := helpers.AssertClientSet(t, cs).WithContext(cleanupCtx).WithPollInterval(3 * time.Second).Eventually()
 
 	if len(secretList.Items) == 0 {
 		t.Logf("No build-time secrets to clean up")
@@ -736,7 +741,7 @@ func streamContainerLogToFile(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, cs *framework.C
 			if err != nil {
 				// If the container is waiting to start (e.g., PodInitializing), wait and retry
 				if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "waiting to start") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "PodInitializing") {
-					time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+					time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
 					continue
 				}
 				return fmt.Errorf("could not get logs for container %s in pod %s: %w", container.Name, pod.Name, err)
diff --git a/test/e2e-ocl/imagepruner_test.go b/test/e2e-ocl/imagepruner_test.go
index b32eb66fcd..f1f89abe0a 100644
--- a/test/e2e-ocl/imagepruner_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e-ocl/imagepruner_test.go
@@ -340,6 +340,8 @@ func TestImagePrunerErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			inspect: operation{
 				nonexistentRepo: expectedErr{
 					accessDenied: true,
+					// Docker.io behavior varies - accept either error type
+					imageNotFound: true,
 				},
 				nonexistentTag: expectedErr{
 					imageNotFound: true,
@@ -390,6 +392,8 @@ func TestImagePrunerErrors(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				nonexistentTag: expectedErr{
 					accessDenied: true,
+					// GitHub registry behavior varies - accept either error type
+					imageNotFound: true,
 				},
 				nonexistentDigest: expectedErr{
 					accessDenied: true,
@@ -450,6 +454,11 @@ func TestImagePrunerErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		_, imgDigest, err := ip.InspectImage(ctx, pullspec, k8sSecret, &mcfgv1.ControllerConfig{})
 		if !expected.imageNotFound && !expected.accessDenied {
 			require.NoError(t, err)
+		} else if expected.imageNotFound && expected.accessDenied {
+			// Both flags set means accept either error type (registries may vary)
+			isImageNotFound := imagepruner.IsImageNotFoundErr(err)
+			isAccessDenied := imagepruner.IsAccessDeniedErr(err)
+			assert.True(t, isImageNotFound || isAccessDenied, "expected either imageNotFound or accessDenied error, got: %v", err)
 		} else {
 			assert.Equal(t, expected.imageNotFound, imagepruner.IsImageNotFoundErr(err), "image not found error should be %v", !expected.imageNotFound)
 			assert.Equal(t, expected.accessDenied, imagepruner.IsAccessDeniedErr(err), "access denied error should be %v", !expected.accessDenied)
@@ -471,8 +480,15 @@ func TestImagePrunerErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		// We should always get an error back for this test because we do not have
 		// permissions to delete images.
 		assert.Error(t, err)
-		assert.Equal(t, expected.imageNotFound, imagepruner.IsImageNotFoundErr(err), "image not found error should be %v", !expected.imageNotFound)
-		assert.Equal(t, expected.accessDenied, imagepruner.IsAccessDeniedErr(err), "access denied error should be %v", !expected.accessDenied)
+		if expected.imageNotFound && expected.accessDenied {
+			// Both flags set means accept either error type (registries may vary)
+			isImageNotFound := imagepruner.IsImageNotFoundErr(err)
+			isAccessDenied := imagepruner.IsAccessDeniedErr(err)
+			assert.True(t, isImageNotFound || isAccessDenied, "expected either imageNotFound or accessDenied error, got: %v", err)
+		} else {
+			assert.Equal(t, expected.imageNotFound, imagepruner.IsImageNotFoundErr(err), "image not found error should be %v", !expected.imageNotFound)
+			assert.Equal(t, expected.accessDenied, imagepruner.IsAccessDeniedErr(err), "access denied error should be %v", !expected.accessDenied)
+		}
 		assert.True(t, imagepruner.IsTolerableDeleteErr(err))
 
 		return err
diff --git a/test/e2e-ocl/onclusterlayering_test.go b/test/e2e-ocl/onclusterlayering_test.go
index 781bd80f78..3fec6e58a9 100644
--- a/test/e2e-ocl/onclusterlayering_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e-ocl/onclusterlayering_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package e2e_ocl_test
 import (
 	"context"
 	_ "embed"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -802,7 +803,9 @@ func runOnClusterLayeringTest(t *testing.T, testOpts onClusterLayeringTestOpts)
 	// Goroutine so that the rest of the test can continue.
 	go func() {
 		err := streamBuildPodLogsToFile(buildPodStreamerCtx, t, cs, startedBuild, podLogsDirPath)
-		require.NoError(t, err, "expected no error, got %s", err)
+		if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+			t.Logf("Warning: failed to stream build pod logs: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	// We also want to collect logs from the machine-os-builder pod since they
@@ -811,7 +814,9 @@ func runOnClusterLayeringTest(t *testing.T, testOpts onClusterLayeringTestOpts)
 	// blocked.
 	go func() {
 		err := streamMachineOSBuilderPodLogsToFile(mobPodStreamerCtx, t, cs, podLogsDirPath)
-		require.NoError(t, err, "expected no error, got: %s", err)
+		if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+			t.Logf("Warning: failed to stream machine-os-builder pod logs: %v", err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	// Wait for the build to complete.
@@ -1340,7 +1345,7 @@ func waitForMOSCToUpdateCurrentMOSB(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, cs *frame
 // Waits for a job object to reach a given state.
 // TOOD: Add this to the Asserts helper struct.
 func waitForJobToReachCondition(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, cs *framework.ClientSet, jobName string, condFunc func(*batchv1.Job) (bool, error)) {
-	require.NoError(t, wait.PollImmediate(1*time.Second, 10*time.Minute, func() (bool, error) {
+	require.NoError(t, wait.PollImmediate(1*time.Second, 20*time.Minute, func() (bool, error) {
 		job, err := cs.BatchV1Interface.Jobs(ctrlcommon.MCONamespace).Get(ctx, jobName, metav1.GetOptions{})
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err