diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yml
index 0ba645efe6..5d34cdd474 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yml
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ jobs:
   # Build the OLM image and save it as an artifact
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    outputs:
-      sha: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha }}
     steps:
       # checkout code and setup go
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -22,15 +20,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           go-version-file: "go.mod"
       # build binaries and image for e2e test (includes experimental features)
-      - name: Build controller image
-        run: make e2e-build
-      - name: Save image
-        run: docker save quay.io/operator-framework/olm:local -o olm-image.tar
-      - name: Upload Docker image as artifact
+      - name: Build OLM Image
+        run: make e2e-build save-image
+      - name: Upload Artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: olm-image.tar
-          path: olm-image.tar
+          name: docker-images
+          path: "*.tar.gz"
 
   # Run e2e tests in parallel jobs
   # Take olm image from the previous stage
@@ -53,14 +49,17 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version-file: "go.mod"
-
-      # load the olm image
-      - name: Load OLM Docker image
+      - name: Download build artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: olm-image.tar
-          path: .
-      - run: docker load < olm-image.tar
+          name: docker-images
+          path: images/
+      - name: Load Docker images
+        run: |
+          for image in images/*.tar.gz; do
+            echo "Loading image $image"
+            docker load -i $image
+          done
 
       # set e2e environment variables
       # Set ginkgo output and parallelism
@@ -87,7 +86,7 @@ jobs:
             KIND_CLUSTER_NAME="kind-olmv0-${i}" \
             KIND_CREATE_OPTS="--kubeconfig=${E2E_KUBECONFIG_ROOT}/kubeconfig-${i}" \
             HELM_INSTALL_OPTS="--kubeconfig ${E2E_KUBECONFIG_ROOT}/kubeconfig-${i}" \
-            make kind-create deploy;
+            make kind-create load-test-images deploy;
           done
 
       # run non-flakes if matrix-id is not 'flakes'
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fbb19078be..d90848d3ad 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -145,6 +145,12 @@ image: export GOOS = linux
 image: clean build #HELP Build image image for linux on host architecture
 	docker build -t $(IMAGE_REPO):$(IMAGE_TAG) -f Dockerfile bin
 
+.PHONY: save-image
+TARGZ_FILE ?= olm-image.tar.gz
+save-image:
+	docker save $(IMAGE_REPO):$(IMAGE_TAG) | gzip > "$(TARGZ_FILE)"
+
+
 .PHONE: build-e2e-fixture-images
 build-e2e-fixture-images: #HELP Build images for e2e testing
 	./scripts/e2e_test_fixtures.sh
@@ -152,6 +158,7 @@ build-e2e-fixture-images: #HELP Build images for e2e testing
 .PHONY: e2e-build
 # the e2e and experimental_metrics tags are required to get e2e tests to pass
 # search the code for go:build e2e or go:build experimental_metrics to see where these tags are used
+
 e2e-build: export GO_BUILD_TAGS += e2e experimental_metrics #HELP Build image for e2e testing
 e2e-build: IMAGE_TAG = local
 e2e-build: image
@@ -217,7 +224,7 @@ kind-create: kind-clean #HELP Create a new kind cluster $KIND_CLUSTER_NAME (defa
 .PHONY: load-test-images
 export REGISTRY ?= localhost:5001
 load-test-images: #HELP Load the OLM images into the kind cluster's registry
-	./scripts/e2e_test_fixtures.sh --push-to="localhost:5001"
+	./scripts/e2e_test_fixtures.sh --push-to="$(REGISTRY)"
 
 .PHONY: deploy
 OLM_IMAGE ?= $(IMAGE_REPO):$(IMAGE_TAG)