diff --git a/charts/rancher-turtles/templates/post-upgrade-job.yaml b/charts/rancher-turtles/templates/post-upgrade-job.yaml
index 75215371..b0915bcd 100644
--- a/charts/rancher-turtles/templates/post-upgrade-job.yaml
+++ b/charts/rancher-turtles/templates/post-upgrade-job.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{{- if and (eq (index .Values "rancherTurtles" "features" "managementv3-cluster" "enabled") true) (eq (index .Values "rancherTurtles" "features" "managementv3-cluster-migration" "enabled") true) }}
+{{- if eq (index .Values "rancherTurtles" "features" "managementv3-cluster-migration" "enabled") true }}
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: ServiceAccount
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ rules:
   verbs:
   - list
   - delete
+- apiGroups:
+  - management.cattle.io
+  resources:
+  - clusters
+  verbs:
+  - list
+  - delete
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: ClusterRoleBinding
@@ -58,7 +65,11 @@ spec:
           image: {{ index .Values "rancherTurtles" "features" "rancher-webhook" "kubectlImage" }}
           args:
           - delete
+          {{- if eq (index .Values "rancherTurtles" "features" "managementv3-cluster" "enabled") true }}
           - clusters.provisioning.cattle.io
+          {{- else }}
+          - clusters.management.cattle.io
+          {{- end }}
           - --selector=cluster-api.cattle.io/owned
           - -A
           - --ignore-not-found=true
diff --git a/internal/controllers/import_controller.go b/internal/controllers/import_controller.go
index ee909f7b..60da431a 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/import_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/import_controller.go
@@ -30,10 +30,12 @@ import (
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/controller/controllerutil"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/event"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/handler"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/predicate"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/reconcile"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/source"
 
 	clusterv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/api/v1beta1"
@@ -43,6 +45,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/util/predicates"
 
 	"github.com/rancher/turtles/feature"
+	managementv3 "github.com/rancher/turtles/internal/rancher/management/v3"
 	provisioningv1 "github.com/rancher/turtles/internal/rancher/provisioning/v1"
 	"github.com/rancher/turtles/util"
 	turtlesannotations "github.com/rancher/turtles/util/annotations"
@@ -143,6 +146,16 @@ func (r *CAPIImportReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request)
 
 	log = log.WithValues("cluster", capiCluster.Name)
 
+	// Collect errors as an aggregate to return together after all patches have been performed.
+	var errs []error
+
+	if !capiCluster.ObjectMeta.DeletionTimestamp.IsZero() && controllerutil.RemoveFinalizer(capiCluster, managementv3.CapiClusterFinalizer) {
+		if err := r.Client.Patch(ctx, capiCluster, patchBase); err != nil {
+			log.Error(err, "failed to remove CAPI cluster finalizer "+managementv3.CapiClusterFinalizer)
+			errs = append(errs, err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Wait for controlplane to be ready. This should never be false as the predicates
 	// do the filtering.
 	if !capiCluster.Status.ControlPlaneReady && !conditions.IsTrue(capiCluster, clusterv1.ControlPlaneReadyCondition) {
@@ -150,9 +163,6 @@ func (r *CAPIImportReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request)
 		return ctrl.Result{RequeueAfter: defaultRequeueDuration}, nil
 	}
 
-	// Collect errors as an aggregate to return together after all patches have been performed.
-	var errs []error
-
 	result, err := r.reconcile(ctx, capiCluster)
 	if err != nil {
 		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("error reconciling cluster: %w", err))
@@ -350,3 +360,42 @@ func (r *CAPIImportReconciler) reconcileDelete(ctx context.Context, capiCluster
 
 	return ctrl.Result{}, nil
 }
+
+// CAPIDowngradeReconciler is a reconciler for downgraded managementv3 clusters.
+type CAPIDowngradeReconciler struct {
+	RancherClient client.Client
+	Scheme        *runtime.Scheme
+}
+
+// SetupWithManager sets up reconciler with manager.
+func (r *CAPIDowngradeReconciler) SetupWithManager(_ context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager, options controller.Options) error {
+	if err := ctrl.NewControllerManagedBy(mgr).
+		For(&managementv3.Cluster{}).
+		WithOptions(options).
+		WithEventFilter(predicate.NewPredicateFuncs(func(object client.Object) bool {
+			_, exist := object.GetLabels()[ownedLabelName]
+			return exist
+		})).
+		Complete(reconcile.AsReconciler(r.RancherClient, r)); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating new downgrade controller: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Reconcile performs check for downgraded clusters and removes finalizer on the clusters still owned by the previous management v3 controller.
+func (r *CAPIDowngradeReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, cluster *managementv3.Cluster) (res ctrl.Result, err error) {
+	log := log.FromContext(ctx)
+
+	patchBase := client.MergeFromWithOptions(cluster.DeepCopy(), client.MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
+
+	if !controllerutil.RemoveFinalizer(cluster, managementv3.CapiClusterFinalizer) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	if err = r.RancherClient.Patch(ctx, cluster, patchBase); err != nil {
+		log.Error(err, "Unable to remove turtles finalizer from cluster"+cluster.Name)
+	}
+
+	return
+}
diff --git a/internal/controllers/import_controller_test.go b/internal/controllers/import_controller_test.go
index 422f5124..2223639a 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/import_controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/import_controller_test.go
@@ -146,6 +146,25 @@ var _ = Describe("reconcile CAPI Cluster", func() {
 		}).Should(Succeed())
 	})
 
+	It("should remove a CAPI cluster with turtles finalizer", func() {
+		capiCluster.Finalizers = []string{managementv3.CapiClusterFinalizer}
+		Expect(cl.Create(ctx, capiCluster)).To(Succeed())
+		capiCluster.Status.ControlPlaneReady = true
+		Expect(cl.Status().Update(ctx, capiCluster)).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(cl.Delete(ctx, capiCluster)).To(Succeed())
+
+		Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
+			_, err := r.Reconcile(ctx, reconcile.Request{
+				NamespacedName: types.NamespacedName{
+					Namespace: capiCluster.Namespace,
+					Name:      capiCluster.Name,
+				},
+			})
+			g.Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			g.Expect(cl.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKeyFromObject(capiCluster), capiCluster)).To(HaveOccurred())
+		}).Should(Succeed())
+	})
+
 	It("should reconcile a CAPI cluster when rancher cluster doesn't exist", func() {
 		capiCluster.Labels = map[string]string{
 			importLabelName: "true",
diff --git a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
index 38936675..dc9780c6 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/import_controller_v3.go
@@ -171,17 +171,15 @@ func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ct
 	// Collect errors as an aggregate to return together after all patches have been performed.
 	var errs []error
 
+	patchBase := client.MergeFromWithOptions(capiCluster.DeepCopy(), client.MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
+
 	result, err := r.reconcile(ctx, capiCluster)
 	if err != nil {
 		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("error reconciling cluster: %w", err))
 	}
 
 	if err := retry.RetryOnConflict(retry.DefaultBackoff, func() error {
-		capiClusterCopy := capiCluster.DeepCopy()
-
-		patchBase := client.MergeFromWithOptions(capiCluster, client.MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
-
-		if err := r.Client.Patch(ctx, capiClusterCopy, patchBase); err != nil {
+		if err := r.Client.Patch(ctx, capiCluster, patchBase); err != nil {
 			errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("failed to patch cluster: %w", err))
 		}
 		return nil
@@ -456,6 +454,8 @@ func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) reconcileDelete(ctx context.Context,
 		capiCluster.Name,
 		turtlesannotations.ClusterImportedAnnotation))
 
+	patchBase := client.MergeFromWithOptions(capiCluster.DeepCopy(), client.MergeFromWithOptimisticLock{})
+
 	annotations := capiCluster.GetAnnotations()
 	if annotations == nil {
 		annotations = map[string]string{}
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ func (r *CAPIImportManagementV3Reconciler) reconcileDelete(ctx context.Context,
 	capiCluster.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 	controllerutil.RemoveFinalizer(capiCluster, managementv3.CapiClusterFinalizer)
 
-	if err := r.Client.Update(ctx, capiCluster); err != nil {
+	if err := r.Client.Patch(ctx, capiCluster, patchBase); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error removing finalizer: %w", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index a1256a5e..7b0df8dd 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -226,6 +226,15 @@ func setupReconcilers(ctx context.Context, mgr ctrl.Manager) {
 			setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create capi controller")
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
+
+		if err := (&controllers.CAPIDowngradeReconciler{
+			RancherClient: rancherClient,
+		}).SetupWithManager(ctx, mgr, controller.Options{
+			MaxConcurrentReconciles: concurrencyNumber,
+		}); err != nil {
+			setupLog.Error(err, "unable to create rancher management v3 downgrade controller")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if feature.Gates.Enabled(feature.RancherKubeSecretPatch) {
diff --git a/test/e2e/specs/migrate_gitops_provv1_mgmtv3.go b/test/e2e/specs/migrate_gitops_provv1_mgmtv3.go
index c9e76e82..069ccb22 100644
--- a/test/e2e/specs/migrate_gitops_provv1_mgmtv3.go
+++ b/test/e2e/specs/migrate_gitops_provv1_mgmtv3.go
@@ -362,6 +362,7 @@ func MigrateToV3UsingGitOpsSpec(ctx context.Context, inputGetter func() MigrateT
 			Image:                        fmt.Sprintf("ghcr.io/rancher/turtles-e2e-%s", runtime.GOARCH),
 			Tag:                          "v0.0.1",
 			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: input.E2EConfig.GetIntervals(input.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
+			SkipCleanup:                  true,
 			AdditionalValues:             map[string]string{},
 		}
 
@@ -387,6 +388,25 @@ func MigrateToV3UsingGitOpsSpec(ctx context.Context, inputGetter func() MigrateT
 
 		By("Rancher should be available using new cluster import")
 		validateRancherCluster()
+
+		By("Running downgrade on provisioningv1 cluster later")
+		upgradeInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.managementv3-cluster.enabled"] = "false"
+		upgradeInput.SkipCleanup = false
+		testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx, upgradeInput)
+
+		By("Waiting for the new Rancher cluster record to be removed")
+		Eventually(komega.Get(rancherCluster), deleteClusterWait...).Should(MatchError(ContainSubstring("not found")), "Rancher cluster should be unimported (deleted)")
+
+		By("CAPI cluster should NOT have the 'imported' annotation")
+		Consistently(func() bool {
+			Eventually(komega.Get(capiCluster), input.E2EConfig.GetIntervals(input.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-rancher")...).Should(Succeed())
+			annotations := capiCluster.GetAnnotations()
+			_, found := annotations["imported"]
+			return !found
+		}, 5*time.Second).Should(BeTrue(), "'imported' annotation is NOT expected on CAPI cluster")
+
+		By("Rancher should be available using old cluster import")
+		validateLegacyRancherCluster()
 	})
 
 	AfterEach(func() {
diff --git a/test/e2e/suites/migrate-gitops/suite_test.go b/test/e2e/suites/migrate-gitops/suite_test.go
index b9738e3e..36f0f891 100644
--- a/test/e2e/suites/migrate-gitops/suite_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/suites/migrate-gitops/suite_test.go
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import (
 	ctrl "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime"
 
 	"github.com/rancher/turtles/test/e2e"
-	"github.com/rancher/turtles/test/framework"
 	turtlesframework "github.com/rancher/turtles/test/framework"
 	"github.com/rancher/turtles/test/testenv"
 )
@@ -84,16 +83,6 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	By(fmt.Sprintf("Loading the e2e test configuration from %q", flagVals.ConfigPath))
 	e2eConfig = e2e.LoadE2EConfig(flagVals.ConfigPath)
 
-	dockerUsername := ""
-	dockerPassword := ""
-	if flagVals.UseEKS {
-		Expect(flagVals.IsolatedMode).To(BeFalse(), "You cannot use eks with isolated")
-		dockerUsername = os.Getenv("GITHUB_USERNAME")
-		Expect(dockerUsername).NotTo(BeEmpty(), "Github username is required")
-		dockerPassword = os.Getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN")
-		Expect(dockerPassword).NotTo(BeEmpty(), "Github token is required")
-	}
-
 	By(fmt.Sprintf("Creating a clusterctl config into %q", flagVals.ArtifactFolder))
 	clusterctlConfigPath = e2e.CreateClusterctlLocalRepository(ctx, e2eConfig, filepath.Join(flagVals.ArtifactFolder, "repository"))
 
@@ -132,28 +121,6 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 		DefaultIngressClassPatch: e2e.IngressClassPatch,
 	})
 
-	if flagVals.UseEKS {
-		By("Getting ingress hostname")
-		svcRes := &testenv.WaitForServiceIngressHostnameResult{}
-		testenv.WaitForServiceIngressHostname(ctx, testenv.WaitForServiceIngressHostnameInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			ServiceName:           "ingress-nginx-controller",
-			ServiceNamespace:      "ingress-nginx",
-			IngressWaitInterval:   e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-rancher"),
-		}, svcRes)
-		hostName = svcRes.Hostname
-
-		By("Deploying ghcr details")
-		framework.CreateDockerRegistrySecret(ctx, framework.CreateDockerRegistrySecretInput{
-			Name:                  "regcred",
-			BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			Namespace:             "rancher-turtles-system",
-			DockerServer:          "https://ghcr.io",
-			DockerUsername:        dockerUsername,
-			DockerPassword:        dockerPassword,
-		})
-	}
-
 	rancherInput := testenv.DeployRancherInput{
 		BootstrapClusterProxy:  setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
 		HelmBinaryPath:         flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
@@ -179,133 +146,50 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 		rancherInput.RancherIngressConfig = e2e.IngressConfig
 		rancherInput.RancherServicePatch = e2e.RancherServicePatch
 	}
-	if flagVals.UseEKS {
-		rancherInput.RancherIngressClassName = "nginx"
-	}
 	testenv.DeployRancher(ctx, rancherInput)
 
-	if shortTestOnly() {
-		rtInput := testenv.DeployRancherTurtlesInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-			ChartPath:                    "https://rancher.github.io/turtles",
-			CAPIProvidersYAML:            e2e.CapiProviders,
-			Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
-			Version:                      "v0.6.0",
-			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-			AdditionalValues:             map[string]string{},
-		}
-		testenv.DeployRancherTurtles(ctx, rtInput)
-
-		testenv.DeployChartMuseum(ctx, testenv.DeployChartMuseumInput{
-			HelmBinaryPath:        flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-			ChartsPath:            flagVals.ChartPath,
-			BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			WaitInterval:          e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-		})
-
-		upgradeInput := testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-			Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
-			Image:                        fmt.Sprintf("ghcr.io/rancher/turtles-e2e-%s", runtime.GOARCH),
-			Tag:                          "v0.0.1",
-			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-			AdditionalValues:             rtInput.AdditionalValues,
-		}
-
-		if flagVals.UseEKS {
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullSecrets"] = "{regcred}"
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "IfNotPresent"
-		} else {
-			// NOTE: this was the default previously in the chart locally and ok as
-			// we where loading the image into kind manually.
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "Never"
-		}
-
-		rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.addon-provider-fleet.enabled"] = "true"
-		rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.managementv3-cluster.enabled"] = "false" // disable the default management.cattle.io/v3 controller
-
-		testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx, upgradeInput)
-	} else {
-		rtInput := testenv.DeployRancherTurtlesInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-			ChartPath:                    flagVals.ChartPath,
-			CAPIProvidersYAML:            e2e.CapiProviders,
-			Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
-			Image:                        fmt.Sprintf("ghcr.io/rancher/turtles-e2e-%s", runtime.GOARCH),
-			Tag:                          "v0.0.1",
-			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-			AdditionalValues:             map[string]string{},
-		}
-		if flagVals.UseEKS {
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullSecrets"] = "{regcred}"
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "IfNotPresent"
-		} else {
-			// NOTE: this was the default previously in the chart locally and ok as
-			// we where loading the image into kind manually.
-			rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "Never"
-		}
-
-		rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.managementv3-cluster.enabled"] = "false" // disable the default management.cattle.io/v3 controller
-		testenv.DeployRancherTurtles(ctx, rtInput)
+	rtInput := testenv.DeployRancherTurtlesInput{
+		BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
+		HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
+		ChartPath:                    "https://rancher.github.io/turtles",
+		CAPIProvidersYAML:            e2e.CapiProviders,
+		Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
+		Version:                      "v0.6.0",
+		WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
+		AdditionalValues:             map[string]string{},
 	}
+	testenv.DeployRancherTurtles(ctx, rtInput)
 
-	if !shortTestOnly() && !localTestOnly() {
-		By("Running full tests, deploying additional infrastructure providers")
-		awsCreds := e2eConfig.GetVariable(e2e.CapaEncodedCredentialsVar)
-		Expect(awsCreds).ToNot(BeEmpty(), "AWS creds required for full test")
-
-		testenv.CAPIOperatorDeployProvider(ctx, testenv.CAPIOperatorDeployProviderInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			CAPIProvidersSecretsYAML: [][]byte{
-				e2e.AWSProviderSecret,
-				e2e.AzureIdentitySecret,
-			},
-			CAPIProvidersYAML: e2e.FullProviders,
-			TemplateData: map[string]string{
-				"AWSEncodedCredentials": e2eConfig.GetVariable(e2e.CapaEncodedCredentialsVar),
-			},
-			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-			WaitForDeployments: []testenv.NamespaceName{
-				{
-					Name:      "capa-controller-manager",
-					Namespace: "capa-system",
-				},
-				{
-					Name:      "capz-controller-manager",
-					Namespace: "capz-system",
-				},
-			},
-		})
-	} else if Label(e2e.LocalTestLabel).MatchesLabelFilter(GinkgoLabelFilter()) {
-		By("Running local vSphere tests, deploying vSphere infrastructure provider")
-
-		testenv.CAPIOperatorDeployProvider(ctx, testenv.CAPIOperatorDeployProviderInput{
-			BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-			CAPIProvidersSecretsYAML: [][]byte{
-				e2e.VSphereProviderSecret,
-			},
-			CAPIProvidersYAML:            e2e.CapvProvider,
-			WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-			WaitForDeployments: []testenv.NamespaceName{
-				{
-					Name:      "capv-controller-manager",
-					Namespace: "capv-system",
-				},
-			},
-		})
+	testenv.DeployChartMuseum(ctx, testenv.DeployChartMuseumInput{
+		HelmBinaryPath:        flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
+		ChartsPath:            flagVals.ChartPath,
+		BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
+		WaitInterval:          e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
+	})
+
+	upgradeInput := testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput{
+		BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
+		HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
+		Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
+		Image:                        fmt.Sprintf("ghcr.io/rancher/turtles-e2e-%s", runtime.GOARCH),
+		Tag:                          "v0.0.1",
+		WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
+		AdditionalValues:             rtInput.AdditionalValues,
 	}
 
+	// NOTE: this was the default previously in the chart locally and ok as
+	// we where loading the image into kind manually.
+	rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "Never"
+	rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.addon-provider-fleet.enabled"] = "true"
+	rtInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.features.managementv3-cluster.enabled"] = "false" // disable the default management.cattle.io/v3 controller
+
+	testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx, upgradeInput)
+
 	giteaValues := map[string]string{
 		"gitea.admin.username": e2eConfig.GetVariable(e2e.GiteaUserNameVar),
 		"gitea.admin.password": e2eConfig.GetVariable(e2e.GiteaUserPasswordVar),
 		"service.http.type":    "NodePort",
 	}
-	if flagVals.UseEKS {
-		giteaValues["service.http.type"] = "LoadBalancer"
-	}
 
 	giteaResult = testenv.DeployGitea(ctx, testenv.DeployGiteaInput{
 		BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
@@ -345,36 +229,6 @@ var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
 	})
 })
 
-var _ = AfterEach(func() {
-	testenv.DeployChartMuseum(ctx, testenv.DeployChartMuseumInput{
-		HelmBinaryPath:        flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-		ChartsPath:            flagVals.ChartPath,
-		BootstrapClusterProxy: setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-		WaitInterval:          e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-	})
-
-	upgradeInput := testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput{
-		BootstrapClusterProxy:        setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy,
-		HelmBinaryPath:               flagVals.HelmBinaryPath,
-		Namespace:                    turtlesframework.DefaultRancherTurtlesNamespace,
-		Image:                        fmt.Sprintf("ghcr.io/rancher/turtles-e2e-%s", runtime.GOARCH),
-		Tag:                          "v0.0.1",
-		WaitDeploymentsReadyInterval: e2eConfig.GetIntervals(setupClusterResult.BootstrapClusterProxy.GetName(), "wait-controllers"),
-		AdditionalValues:             map[string]string{},
-	}
-
-	if flagVals.UseEKS {
-		upgradeInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullSecrets"] = "{regcred}"
-		upgradeInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "IfNotPresent"
-	} else {
-		// NOTE: this was the default previously in the chart locally and ok as
-		// we where loading the image into kind manually.
-		upgradeInput.AdditionalValues["rancherTurtles.imagePullPolicy"] = "Never"
-	}
-
-	testenv.UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx, upgradeInput)
-})
-
 func shortTestOnly() bool {
 	return GinkgoLabelFilter() == e2e.ShortTestLabel
 }
diff --git a/test/testenv/turtles.go b/test/testenv/turtles.go
index ab1e2197..4f2661e8 100644
--- a/test/testenv/turtles.go
+++ b/test/testenv/turtles.go
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ type UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput struct {
 	AdditionalValues             map[string]string
 	Image                        string
 	Tag                          string
+	SkipCleanup                  bool
 }
 
 func UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx context.Context, input UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput) {
@@ -211,18 +212,20 @@ func UpgradeRancherTurtles(ctx context.Context, input UpgradeRancherTurtlesInput
 		additionalValues = append(additionalValues, "--set", fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", name, val))
 	}
 
-	defer func() {
-		values := []string{"repo", "remove", "rancher-turtles-local"}
-		cmd := exec.Command(
-			input.HelmBinaryPath,
-			values...,
-		)
-		cmd.WaitDelay = time.Minute
-		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
-		if err != nil {
-			Expect(fmt.Errorf("Unable to perform chart removal: %w\nOutput: %s, Command: %s", err, out, strings.Join(append(values, additionalValues...), " "))).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-		}
-	}()
+	if !input.SkipCleanup {
+		defer func() {
+			values := []string{"repo", "remove", "rancher-turtles-local"}
+			cmd := exec.Command(
+				input.HelmBinaryPath,
+				values...,
+			)
+			cmd.WaitDelay = time.Minute
+			out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+			if err != nil {
+				Expect(fmt.Errorf("Unable to perform chart removal: %w\nOutput: %s, Command: %s", err, out, strings.Join(append(values, additionalValues...), " "))).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			}
+		}()
+	}
 
 	values := []string{"repo", "update"}
 	cmd := exec.Command(