diff --git a/.github/env b/.github/env
index ccf9e16df..61e90518e 100644
--- a/.github/env
+++ b/.github/env
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 golang-version=1.20
-kind-version=v0.18.0
-kind-image=kindest/node:v1.26.3
+kind-version=v0.20.0
+kind-image=kindest/node:v1.27.3
diff --git a/pkg/k8sutil/k8sutil.go b/pkg/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
index 5031950a8..165014b3d 100644
--- a/pkg/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
+++ b/pkg/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func NewCRDChecker(host string, tlsInsecure bool, tlsConfig *rest.TLSClientConfi
 func PodRunningAndReady(pod v1.Pod) (bool, error) {
 	switch pod.Status.Phase {
 	case v1.PodFailed, v1.PodSucceeded:
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("pod completed")
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("pod completed with phase %s", pod.Status.Phase)
 	case v1.PodRunning:
 		for _, cond := range pod.Status.Conditions {
 			if cond.Type != v1.PodReady {
diff --git a/test/e2e/alertmanager_test.go b/test/e2e/alertmanager_test.go
index 6d90e59c2..0b7702778 100644
--- a/test/e2e/alertmanager_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/alertmanager_test.go
@@ -2184,7 +2184,6 @@ func testAMWeb(t *testing.T) {
 func testAlertManagerMinReadySeconds(t *testing.T) {
 	// Don't run Alertmanager tests in parallel. See
 	// https://github.com/prometheus/alertmanager/issues/1835 for details.
-	runFeatureGatedTests(t)
 
 	testCtx := framework.NewTestCtx(t)
 	defer testCtx.Cleanup(t)
diff --git a/test/e2e/kind-conf.yaml b/test/e2e/kind-conf.yaml
index f69105ac1..9fa0022f2 100644
--- a/test/e2e/kind-conf.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/kind-conf.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 # See https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/configuration/
-# This allows starting a kind cluster with specific feature gates enabled
 kind: Cluster
 apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
 name: kind
-featureGates:
-  "StatefulSetMinReadySeconds": true
+
diff --git a/test/e2e/main_test.go b/test/e2e/main_test.go
index 33e0fdd81..ec0eb8da2 100644
--- a/test/e2e/main_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/main_test.go
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ func skipOperatorUpgradeTests(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // feature gated tests need to be explicitly included
+// not currently in use
+//
+// nolint:all
 func runFeatureGatedTests(t *testing.T) {
 	if os.Getenv("FEATURE_GATED_TESTS") != "include" {
 		t.Skip("Skipping Feature Gated tests")
diff --git a/test/e2e/prometheus_test.go b/test/e2e/prometheus_test.go
index 7bb84e8b7..13805db12 100644
--- a/test/e2e/prometheus_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/prometheus_test.go
@@ -3919,7 +3919,6 @@ func testPromWebWithThanosSidecar(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func testPromMinReadySeconds(t *testing.T) {
-	runFeatureGatedTests(t)
 	t.Parallel()
 
 	testCtx := framework.NewTestCtx(t)
diff --git a/test/e2e/thanosruler_test.go b/test/e2e/thanosruler_test.go
index 2100d07f6..0547073e5 100644
--- a/test/e2e/thanosruler_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/thanosruler_test.go
@@ -216,7 +216,6 @@ func testTRPreserveUserAddedMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func testTRMinReadySeconds(t *testing.T) {
-	runFeatureGatedTests(t)
 	t.Parallel()
 
 	testCtx := framework.NewTestCtx(t)
diff --git a/test/framework/helpers.go b/test/framework/helpers.go
index 66a24dd18..57d785ce6 100644
--- a/test/framework/helpers.go
+++ b/test/framework/helpers.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (f *Framework) WaitForPodsReady(ctx context.Context, namespace string, time
 		for _, p := range pl.Items {
 			isRunningAndReady, err := k8sutil.PodRunningAndReady(p)
 			if err != nil {
-				return false, err
+				return false, nil
 			}
 
 			if isRunningAndReady {