diff --git a/.prow.yaml b/.prow.yaml
index ce16dd16..313ce7a3 100644
--- a/.prow.yaml
+++ b/.prow.yaml
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ presubmits:
                 path: id_rsa
               - key: id_rsa.pub
                 path: id_rsa.pub
-  - name: e2e-kubeadm-fedora-40
+  - name: e2e-kubeadm-fedora-38
     annotations:
     labels:
     run_if_changed: '^e2e/'
@@ -348,8 +348,8 @@ presubmits:
           args:
             - "-c"
             - |
-              set -eE; cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/e2e/terraform"; trap 'terraform destroy -target module.gcp-fedora-34 -auto-approve' EXIT;
-              terraform init && timeout 120m terraform apply -target module.gcp-fedora-40 -var="fail_fast=true" -var="mgmt_cluster_type=kubeadm" -auto-approve
+              set -eE; cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/e2e/terraform"; trap 'terraform destroy -target module.gcp-fedora-38 -auto-approve' EXIT;
+              terraform init && timeout 120m terraform apply -target module.gcp-fedora-38 -var="fail_fast=true" -var="mgmt_cluster_type=kubeadm" -auto-approve
           volumeMounts:
             - name: satoken
               mountPath: "/etc/satoken"
diff --git a/e2e/provision/init.sh b/e2e/provision/init.sh
index c1cb689f..1d137d0f 100755
--- a/e2e/provision/init.sh
+++ b/e2e/provision/init.sh
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ if [ ${MGMT_CLUSTER_TYPE} == "kubeadm" ]; then
 fi
 export ANSIBLE_CMD_EXTRA_VAR_LIST='{ "nephio_catalog_repo_uri": "'${NEPHIO_CATALOG_REPO_URI}'", "k8s": { "context" : "'${K8S_CONTEXT}'", "version" : "'$K8S_VERSION'" } }'
 
-
 if [ ${K8S_CONTEXT} == "kind-kind" ]; then
     export ANSIBLE_TAG=all
 else
diff --git a/e2e/provision/playbooks/deploy_kubeadm_k8s.yml b/e2e/provision/playbooks/deploy_kubeadm_k8s.yml
index 96573aab..10b9bdad 100644
--- a/e2e/provision/playbooks/deploy_kubeadm_k8s.yml
+++ b/e2e/provision/playbooks/deploy_kubeadm_k8s.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,19 @@
 - name: Deploy k8s using kubeadm on host
   hosts: all
   pre_tasks:
+    - name: Sysctl settings updates
+      become: true
+      ansible.posix.sysctl:
+        reload: true
+        sysctl_file: /etc/sysctl.conf
+        name: "{{ item.name }}"
+        value: "{{ item.value }}"
+        state: present
+      with_items:
+        - {name: fs.inotify.max_user_watches, value: 524288}
+        - {name: fs.inotify.max_user_instances, value: 512}
+        - {name: kernel.keys.maxkeys, value: 500000}
+        - {name: kernel.keys.maxbytes, value: 1000000}
     - name: Install Docker Engine needed for kpt functions
       become: true
       block:
diff --git a/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/main.yml b/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/main.yml
index 3f2362a5..53f73f44 100644
--- a/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/main.yml
@@ -207,14 +207,3 @@
   ansible.builtin.shell: kubectl taint node $(hostname) node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane-
   register: my_output
   changed_when: my_output.rc != 0
-<<<<<<< HEAD
-
-- name: Wait for deployments to complete
-  ansible.builtin.include_tasks: wait-deployments.yml
-  loop: "{{ kube-system + kube-flannel + local-path-storage }}"
-  loop_control:
-    loop_var: namespace
-  vars:
-    context: "{{ k8s.context }}"
-=======
->>>>>>> 4a828c2 (add support for installing nonKIND cluster via kubeadm (previously PR #46) (#296))
diff --git a/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/wait-deployments.yml b/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/wait-deployments.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d9e5e02..00000000
--- a/e2e/provision/playbooks/roles/kubeadm/tasks/wait-deployments.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
----
-# SPDX-license-identifier: Apache-2.0
-##############################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2024 The Nephio Authors.
-# All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
-# are made available under the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0
-# which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
-# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-##############################################################################
-
-- name: "Get deployment resources in namespace {{ namespace }}"
-  kubernetes.core.k8s_info:
-    context: "{{ context }}"
-    api_version: v1
-    kind: Deployment
-    namespace: "{{ namespace }}"
-  register: deployment_list
-
-- name: "Print deployment resources in namespace {{ namespace }}"
-  ansible.builtin.debug:
-    var: deployment_list.resources
-
-- name: "Wait for deployments in namespace {{ namespace }}"
-  kubernetes.core.k8s:
-    context: "{{ context }}"
-    definition:
-      apiVersion: apps/v1
-      kind: Deployment
-      metadata:
-        name: "{{ resource.metadata.name }}"
-        namespace: "{{ resource.metadata.namespace }}"
-    wait: true
-    wait_condition:
-      type: Available
-      reason: MinimumReplicasAvailable
-  loop: "{{ deployment_list.resources }}"
-  loop_control:
-    loop_var: resource
diff --git a/e2e/terraform/main.tf b/e2e/terraform/main.tf
index a3527d91..7fbda01f 100644
--- a/e2e/terraform/main.tf
+++ b/e2e/terraform/main.tf
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ module "gcp-fedora-34" {
   nephio_mgmt_cluster_type = var.mgmt_cluster_type
 }
 
-module "gcp-fedora-40" {
+module "gcp-fedora-38" {
   source               = ".//modules/gcp"
-  vmimage              = "fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-40"
+  vmimage              = "fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-38"
   ansible_user         = "fedora"
   nephio_e2e_type      = var.e2e_type
   nephio_e2e_fail_fast = var.fail_fast