diff --git a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
index fd9b981090..5b8193c88f 100644
--- a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
+++ b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
@@ -11,14 +11,33 @@ set -o pipefail
 tests_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 source "${tests_dir}/common.bash"
 
-AZ_RG="${AZ_RG:-kataCI}"
 K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE="${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE:-small}"
 
+function _print_instance_type() {
+    case ${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE} in
+        small)
+            echo "Standard_D2s_v5"
+            ;;
+        normal)
+            echo "Standard_D4s_v5"
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Unknown instance type '${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE}'" >&2
+            exit 1
+    esac
+}
+
 function _print_cluster_name() {
     test_type="${1:-k8s}"
 
     short_sha="$(git rev-parse --short=12 HEAD)"
-    echo "${test_type}-${GH_PR_NUMBER}-${short_sha}-${KATA_HYPERVISOR}-${KATA_HOST_OS}-amd64"
+    echo "${test_type}-${GH_PR_NUMBER}-${short_sha}-${KATA_HYPERVISOR}-${KATA_HOST_OS}-amd64-${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE:0:1}"
+}
+
+function _print_rg_name() {
+    test_type="${1:-k8s}"
+
+    echo "${AZ_RG:-"kataCI-$(_print_cluster_name ${test_type})"}"
 }
 
 function install_azure_cli() {
@@ -38,23 +57,20 @@ function login_azure() {
 function create_cluster() {
     test_type="${1:-k8s}"
 
-    # First, ensure that the cluster didn't fail to get cleaned up from a previous run.
+    # First ensure it didn't fail to get cleaned up from a previous run.
     delete_cluster "${test_type}" || true
 
-    local instance_type=""
-    case ${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE} in
-	    small)
-		    instance_type="Standard_D2s_v5"
-		    ;;
-	    normal)
-		    instance_type="Standard_D4s_v5"
-		    ;;
-    esac
+    local rg="$(_print_rg_name ${test_type})"
+
+    az group create \
+        -l eastus2 \
+        -n "${rg}"
 
     az aks create \
-        -g "${AZ_RG}" \
+        -g "${rg}" \
+	--node-resource-group "node-${rg}" \
         -n "$(_print_cluster_name ${test_type})" \
-        -s "${instance_type}" \
+        -s "$(_print_instance_type)" \
         --node-count 1 \
         --generate-ssh-keys \
         $([ "${KATA_HOST_OS}" = "cbl-mariner" ] && echo "--os-sku AzureLinux --workload-runtime KataMshvVmIsolation")
@@ -79,16 +95,15 @@ function get_cluster_credentials() {
     test_type="${1:-k8s}"
 
     az aks get-credentials \
-        -g "${AZ_RG}" \
+        -g "$(_print_rg_name ${test_type})" \
         -n "$(_print_cluster_name ${test_type})"
 }
 
 function delete_cluster() {
     test_type="${1:-k8s}"
 
-    az aks delete \
-        -g "${AZ_RG}" \
-        -n "$(_print_cluster_name ${test_type})" \
+    az group delete \
+        -g "$(_print_rg_name ${test_type})" \
         --yes
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/run_kubernetes_tests.sh b/tests/integration/kubernetes/run_kubernetes_tests.sh
index 165cadaf66..b0686180a0 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/run_kubernetes_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/run_kubernetes_tests.sh
@@ -66,10 +66,10 @@ else
 
 	case ${K8S_TEST_HOST_TYPE} in
 		small)
-			K8S_TEST_UNION=($K8S_TEST_SMALL_HOST_UNION)
+			K8S_TEST_UNION=(${K8S_TEST_SMALL_HOST_UNION[@]})
 			;;
 		normal)
-			K8S_TEST_UNION=($K8S_TEST_NORMAL_HOST_UNION)
+			K8S_TEST_UNION=(${K8S_TEST_NORMAL_HOST_UNION[@]})
 			;;
 		baremetal)
 			K8S_TEST_UNION=(${K8S_TEST_SMALL_HOST_UNION[@]} ${K8S_TEST_NORMAL_HOST_UNION[@]})