diff --git a/pkg/e2e/build_test.go b/pkg/e2e/build_test.go
index 34cb323860c..3cbfb08250c 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/build_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/build_test.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestLocalComposeBuild(t *testing.T) {
 
-	for _, env := range []string{"DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0", "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1", "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1,COMPOSE_BAKE=1"} {
+	for _, env := range []string{"DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0", "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1", "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1,COMPOSE-BAKE=1"} {
 		c := NewCLI(t, WithEnv(strings.Split(env, ",")...))
 
 		t.Run(env+" build named and unnamed images", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func TestLocalComposeBuild(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 
 		t.Run(env+" rebuild when up --build", func(t *testing.T) {
-			res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "--project-directory", "fixtures/build-test", "up", "-d", "--build")
+			res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "--workdir", "fixtures/build-test", "up", "-d", "--build")
 
 			res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{Out: "COPY static /usr/share/nginx/html"})
 			res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{Out: "COPY static2 /usr/share/nginx/html"})
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/compose_exec_test.go b/pkg/e2e/compose_exec_test.go
index cc8222802fc..92b7e7ac74b 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/compose_exec_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/compose_exec_test.go
@@ -70,18 +70,13 @@ func TestLocalComposeExecOneOff(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
 
 	const projectName = "compose-e2e-exec-one-off"
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 	cmdArgs := func(cmd string, args ...string) []string {
 		ret := []string{"--project-directory", "fixtures/simple-composefile", "--project-name", projectName, cmd}
 		ret = append(ret, args...)
 		return ret
 	}
 
-	cleanup := func() {
-		c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, cmdArgs("down", "--timeout=0")...)
-	}
-	cleanup()
-	t.Cleanup(cleanup)
-
 	c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, cmdArgs("run", "-d", "simple")...)
 
 	t.Run("exec in one-off container", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -93,4 +88,7 @@ func TestLocalComposeExecOneOff(t *testing.T) {
 		res := c.RunDockerComposeCmdNoCheck(t, cmdArgs("exec", "--index", "1", "-e", "FOO", "simple", "/usr/bin/env")...)
 		res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{ExitCode: 1, Err: "service \"simple\" is not running container #1"})
 	})
+	cmdResult := c.RunDockerCmd(t, "ps", "-q", "--filter", "label=com.docker.compose.project=compose-e2e-exec-one-off").Stdout()
+	containerIDs := strings.Split(cmdResult, "\n")
+	_ = c.RunDockerOrExitError(t, append([]string{"stop"}, containerIDs...)...)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/compose_run_test.go b/pkg/e2e/compose_run_test.go
index 40b2f48d5aa..39c2ce0a276 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/compose_run_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/compose_run_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestLocalComposeRun(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "run-test")
 
 	t.Run("compose run", func(t *testing.T) {
 		res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/run-test/compose.yaml", "run", "back")
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/compose_test.go b/pkg/e2e/compose_test.go
index 4cd33a56a58..81f5dfe0b99 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/compose_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/compose_test.go
@@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ func TestRemoveOrphaned(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestComposeFileSetByDotEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "dotenv")
 
 	cmd := c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "config")
 	cmd.Dir = filepath.Join(".", "fixtures", "dotenv")
@@ -335,6 +336,7 @@ func TestComposeFileSetByDotEnv(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestComposeFileSetByProjectDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "dotenv")
 
 	dir := filepath.Join(".", "fixtures", "dotenv", "development")
 	cmd := c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "--project-directory", dir, "config")
@@ -347,6 +349,7 @@ func TestComposeFileSetByProjectDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestComposeFileSetByEnvFile(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "dotenv")
 
 	dotEnv, err := os.CreateTemp(t.TempDir(), ".env")
 	assert.NilError(t, err)
@@ -370,6 +373,7 @@ COMPOSE_PROFILES=test
 
 func TestNestedDotEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "nested")
 
 	cmd := c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "run", "echo")
 	cmd.Dir = filepath.Join(".", "fixtures", "nested")
@@ -381,6 +385,7 @@ func TestNestedDotEnv(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cmd = c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "run", "echo")
 	cmd.Dir = filepath.Join(".", "fixtures", "nested", "sub")
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "nested")
 	res = icmd.RunCmd(cmd)
 	res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{
 		ExitCode: 0,
@@ -392,9 +397,7 @@ func TestNestedDotEnv(t *testing.T) {
 func TestUnnecessaryResources(t *testing.T) {
 	const projectName = "compose-e2e-unnecessary-resources"
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
-	t.Cleanup(func() {
-		c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-p", projectName, "down", "-t=0")
-	})
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 
 	res := c.RunDockerComposeCmdNoCheck(t, "-f", "./fixtures/external/compose.yaml", "-p", projectName, "up", "-d")
 	res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/compose_up_test.go b/pkg/e2e/compose_up_test.go
index 95bb358f071..4c27a21e043 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/compose_up_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/compose_up_test.go
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ func TestStdoutStderr(t *testing.T) {
 func TestLoggingDriver(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
 	const projectName = "e2e-logging-driver"
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 
 	host := "HOST=127.0.0.1"
 	res := c.RunDockerCmd(t, "info", "-f", "{{.OperatingSystem}}")
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/configs_test.go b/pkg/e2e/configs_test.go
index 8d7dc9c0e70..c7d86f1c765 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/configs_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/configs_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestConfigFromEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "configs")
 
 	t.Run("config from file", func(t *testing.T) {
 		res := icmd.RunCmd(c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/configs/compose.yaml", "run", "from_file"))
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/env_file_test.go b/pkg/e2e/env_file_test.go
index f4982655da0..5b546764218 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/env_file_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/env_file_test.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestRawEnvFile(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "dotenv")
 
 	res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/dotenv/raw.yaml", "run", "test")
 	assert.Equal(t, strings.TrimSpace(res.Stdout()), "'{\"key\": \"value\"}'")
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/framework.go b/pkg/e2e/framework.go
index 51b0e1fa708..cb795e261be 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/framework.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/framework.go
@@ -494,3 +494,8 @@ func HTTPGetWithRetry(
 	}
 	return ""
 }
+
+func (c *CLI) cleanupWithDown(t testing.TB, project string, args ...string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, append([]string{"-p", project, "down", "-v", "--remove-orphans"}, args...)...)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/networks_test.go b/pkg/e2e/networks_test.go
index 0ea227cfc2b..f1d90883207 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/networks_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/networks_test.go
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ func TestNetworkAliases(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
 
 	const projectName = "network_alias_e2e"
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 
 	t.Run("up", func(t *testing.T) {
 		c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/network-alias/compose.yaml", "--project-name", projectName, "up",
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ func TestNetworkModes(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
 
 	const projectName = "network_mode_service_run"
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 
 	t.Run("run with service mode dependency", func(t *testing.T) {
 		res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/network-test/compose.yaml", "--project-name", projectName, "run", "-T", "mydb", "echo", "success")
@@ -143,9 +145,6 @@ func TestNetworkModes(t *testing.T) {
 
 	})
 
-	t.Run("down", func(t *testing.T) {
-		_ = c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "--project-name", projectName, "down")
-	})
 }
 
 func TestNetworkConfigChanged(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/orphans_test.go b/pkg/e2e/orphans_test.go
index e5ec2aba0a1..e721e7a540b 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/orphans_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/orphans_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ func TestRemoveOrphans(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewCLI(t)
 
 	const projectName = "compose-e2e-orphans"
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, projectName)
 
 	c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/orphans/compose.yaml", "-p", projectName, "run", "orphan")
 	res := c.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "-p", projectName, "ps", "--all")
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/secrets_test.go b/pkg/e2e/secrets_test.go
index c5bcde14dc2..3b9daf100de 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/secrets_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/secrets_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestSecretFromEnv(t *testing.T) {
 	c := NewParallelCLI(t)
+	defer c.cleanupWithDown(t, "env-secret")
 
 	t.Run("compose run", func(t *testing.T) {
 		res := icmd.RunCmd(c.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "-f", "./fixtures/env-secret/compose.yaml", "run", "foo"),
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/watch_test.go b/pkg/e2e/watch_test.go
index d7b56435ef2..c982989a0bc 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/watch_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/watch_test.go
@@ -165,11 +165,7 @@ func doTest(t *testing.T, svcName string) {
 	cli := NewCLI(t, WithEnv(env...))
 
 	// important that --rmi is used to prune the images and ensure that watch builds on launch
-	cleanup := func() {
-		cli.RunDockerComposeCmd(t, "down", svcName, "--remove-orphans", "--volumes", "--rmi=local")
-	}
-	cleanup()
-	t.Cleanup(cleanup)
+	defer cli.cleanupWithDown(t, projName, "--rmi=local")
 
 	cmd := cli.NewDockerComposeCmd(t, "--verbose", "watch", svcName)
 	// stream output since watch runs in the background