diff --git a/hack/testing/e2e-common.sh b/hack/testing/e2e-common.sh
index f9ff8157ae4..7d18cbe27a5 100644
--- a/hack/testing/e2e-common.sh
+++ b/hack/testing/e2e-common.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,21 @@ export E2E_SKIP_IMAGE_RELOAD="${E2E_SKIP_IMAGE_RELOAD:-false}"
 
 export KIND_VERSION="${E2E_KIND_VERSION/"kindest/node:v"/}"
 
+function build_kind_node_image {
+    if [[ "$E2E_KIND_VERSION" != kindest/node:v* ]]; then
+        echo "Skipping kind node image build for non-standard image: $E2E_KIND_VERSION"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if [[ "${E2E_MODE}" == "dev" ]] && docker image inspect "$E2E_KIND_VERSION" &>/dev/null; then
+        echo "Reusing existing node image: $E2E_KIND_VERSION (E2E_MODE=dev)"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    echo "Building kind node image: $E2E_KIND_VERSION (K8s v$KIND_VERSION)"
+    $KIND build node-image "v$KIND_VERSION" --image "$E2E_KIND_VERSION"
+}
+
 function e2e_is_truthy {
     case "${1:-}" in
         1|true|TRUE|True|yes|YES|Yes|y|Y|on|ON|On) return 0 ;;
diff --git a/hack/testing/e2e-multikueue-test.sh b/hack/testing/e2e-multikueue-test.sh
index e608e9f0f09..5d2950439e5 100755
--- a/hack/testing/e2e-multikueue-test.sh
+++ b/hack/testing/e2e-multikueue-test.sh
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ function kueue_deploy {
 }
 
 trap cleanup EXIT
-startup 
+build_kind_node_image
+startup
 prepare_docker_images
 for job in $(jobs -p); do 
     wait "$job" || { echo "Cluster creation failed!"; exit 1; } 
diff --git a/hack/testing/e2e-test.sh b/hack/testing/e2e-test.sh
index 43d2e592f6b..a59b13a4f0d 100755
--- a/hack/testing/e2e-test.sh
+++ b/hack/testing/e2e-test.sh
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ function startup {
 }
 
 trap cleanup EXIT
+build_kind_node_image
 startup &
 prepare_docker_images
 wait