diff --git a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
index 54e01261bf..e0ebea1aa0 100644
--- a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
+++ b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ source "${tests_dir}/common.bash"
 kubernetes_dir="${tests_dir}/integration/kubernetes"
 helm_chart_dir="${repo_root_dir}/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/helm-chart/kata-deploy"
 
+AZ_REGION="${AZ_REGION:-eastus}"
+AZ_NODEPOOL_TAGS="${AZ_NODEPOOL_TAGS:-}"
 GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD="${GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD:-oci-distribution}"
 GH_PR_NUMBER="${GH_PR_NUMBER:-}"
 HELM_DEFAULT_INSTALLATION="${HELM_DEFAULT_INSTALLATION:-false}"
@@ -138,7 +140,7 @@ function create_cluster() {
 		"GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD=${GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD:0:1}")
 
 	az group create \
-		-l eastus \
+		-l "${AZ_REGION}" \
 		-n "${rg}"
 
 	# Required by e.g. AKS App Routing for KBS installation.
@@ -154,6 +156,7 @@ function create_cluster() {
 		--generate-ssh-keys
 		--tags "${tags[@]}")
 	[[ "${KATA_HOST_OS}" = "cbl-mariner" ]] && aks_create+=( --os-sku AzureLinux --workload-runtime KataVmIsolation)
+	[[ -n "${AZ_NODEPOOL_TAGS}" ]] && aks_create+=(--nodepool-tags "${AZ_NODEPOOL_TAGS}")
 	"${aks_create[@]}"
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh b/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
index 643334397f..bd2c406aca 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ K8S_TEST_DIR="${kubernetes_dir:-"${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}"}"
 
 AUTO_GENERATE_POLICY="${AUTO_GENERATE_POLICY:-}"
 GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD="${GENPOLICY_PULL_METHOD:-}"
+GENPOLICY_BINARY="${GENPOLICY_BINARY:-"/opt/kata/bin/genpolicy"}"
+GENPOLICY_SETTINGS_DIR="${GENPOLICY_SETTINGS_DIR:-"/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers"}"
 KATA_HYPERVISOR="${KATA_HYPERVISOR:-}"
 KATA_HOST_OS="${KATA_HOST_OS:-}"
 RUNS_ON_AKS="${RUNS_ON_AKS:-false}"
@@ -160,12 +162,11 @@ install_genpolicy_drop_ins() {
 # genpolicy-settings.json and genpolicy-settings.d/*.json (drop-ins).
 create_common_genpolicy_settings() {
 	declare -r genpolicy_settings_dir="$1"
-	declare -r default_genpolicy_settings_dir="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers"
 
 	auto_generate_policy_enabled || return 0
 
-	cp "${default_genpolicy_settings_dir}/genpolicy-settings.json" "${genpolicy_settings_dir}"
-	cp "${default_genpolicy_settings_dir}/rules.rego" "${genpolicy_settings_dir}"
+	cp "${GENPOLICY_SETTINGS_DIR}/genpolicy-settings.json" "${genpolicy_settings_dir}"
+	cp "${GENPOLICY_SETTINGS_DIR}/rules.rego" "${genpolicy_settings_dir}"
 
 	mkdir -p "${genpolicy_settings_dir}/genpolicy-settings.d"
 	install_genpolicy_drop_ins \
@@ -222,7 +223,7 @@ auto_generate_policy_no_added_flags() {
 	declare -r additional_flags="${4:-""}"
 
 	auto_generate_policy_enabled || return 0
-	local genpolicy_command="RUST_LOG=info /opt/kata/bin/genpolicy -u -y ${yaml_file}"
+	local genpolicy_command="RUST_LOG=info ${GENPOLICY_BINARY} -u -y ${yaml_file}"
 	genpolicy_command+=" -p ${settings_dir}/rules.rego"
 	genpolicy_command+=" -j ${settings_dir}"