diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-k3s.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-k3s.yaml
index 6f262c0230db..10ca581f5434 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-k3s.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-k3s.yaml
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ on:
       type: boolean
       required: false
       default: false
+    upload-image:
+      type: boolean
+      required: false
+      default: false
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -23,6 +27,9 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 SKIP_IMAGE=1 SKIP_AIRGAP=1 SKIP_VALIDATE=1 GOCOVER=1 make
         sha256sum dist/artifacts/k3s | sed 's|dist/artifacts/||' > dist/artifacts/k3s.sha256sum
+    - name: Build K3s image
+      if: inputs.upload-image == true
+      run: make package-image
     - name: bundle repo
       if: inputs.upload-repo == true
       run: |
@@ -34,6 +41,9 @@ jobs:
       with:
         name: k3s-repo.tar.gz
         path: k3s-repo.tar.gz
+    - name: "Save K3s image"
+      if: inputs.upload-image == true
+      run: docker image save rancher/k3s -o ./dist/artifacts/k3s-image.tar
     - name: "Upload K3s binary"
       if: inputs.upload-repo == false
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
index 85a1ccc2e64e..e5f2d6b32890 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   build:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/build-k3s.yaml
+    with:
+      upload-image: true
   e2e:
     name: "E2E Tests"
     needs: build
@@ -98,11 +100,13 @@ jobs:
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
       with:
         fetch-depth: 1
-    - name: "Download k3s binary"
+    - name: "Download k3s image"
       uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
       with:
         name: k3s
         path: ./dist/artifacts
+    - name: Load k3s image
+      run: docker image load -i ./dist/artifacts/k3s-image.tar
     - name: Run ${{ matrix.dtest }} Test
       run: | 
         chmod +x ./dist/artifacts/k3s