diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-confidential-attestation.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-confidential-attestation.bats
index 7d57db2770..88764ae5f5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-confidential-attestation.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-confidential-attestation.bats
@@ -95,6 +95,6 @@ teardown() {
 
 	if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
 		echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-		print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+		exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-file-volume.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-file-volume.bats
index 35891d1dc0..f063f444d5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-file-volume.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-file-volume.bats
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 #
 
+load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/lib.sh"
 load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../../common.bash"
 load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/tests_common.sh"
 TEST_INITRD="${TEST_INITRD:-no}"
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-authenticated.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-authenticated.bats
index cf9ab5a469..ff1c50cc1a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-authenticated.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-authenticated.bats
@@ -117,6 +117,6 @@ teardown() {
 
     if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
 		echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-		print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+		exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-encrypted.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-encrypted.bats
index 0753af5170..5ecff42570 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-encrypted.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-encrypted.bats
@@ -100,6 +100,6 @@ teardown() {
 
     if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
         echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-        print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+        exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
     fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-signature.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-signature.bats
index 4866ae84a0..69a2909152 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-signature.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-guest-pull-image-signature.bats
@@ -151,6 +151,6 @@ teardown() {
 
     if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
 		echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-		print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+		exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-liveness-probes.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-liveness-probes.bats
index 7540f8422d..42557be8bc 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-liveness-probes.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-liveness-probes.bats
@@ -101,6 +101,6 @@ teardown() {
 
 	if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
 		echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-		print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+		exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-sealed-secret.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-sealed-secret.bats
index b36ff41bd5..bdcd56066a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-sealed-secret.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-sealed-secret.bats
@@ -115,6 +115,6 @@ teardown() {
 
 	if [[ -n "${node_start_time:-}" && -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]]; then
 		echo "DEBUG: system logs of node '$node' since test start time ($node_start_time)"
-		print_node_journal "$node" "kata" --since "$node_start_time" || true
+		exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t "kata" --since '"'$node_start_time'"' || true
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-volume.bats b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-volume.bats
index 58c2b51c3a..b1386b2096 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-volume.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/k8s-volume.bats
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 #
 
+load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/lib.sh"
 load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../../common.bash"
 load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/tests_common.sh"
 TEST_INITRD="${TEST_INITRD:-no}"
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/lib.sh b/tests/integration/kubernetes/lib.sh
index eb732fdde9..56713e950b 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/lib.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/lib.sh
@@ -64,6 +64,46 @@ k8s_create_pod() {
 	fi
 }
 
+# Runs a command in the host filesystem.
+#
+# Parameters:
+#	$1 - the node name
+#
+exec_host() {
+	local node="$1"
+	# `kubectl debug` always returns 0, so we hack it to return the right exit code.
+	local command="${@:2}"
+	# Make 7 character hash from the node name
+	local pod_name="custom-node-debugger-$(echo -n "$node" | sha1sum | cut -c1-7)"
+
+	# Run a debug pod
+	# Check if there is an existing node debugger pod and reuse it
+	# Otherwise, create a new one
+	if ! kubectl get pod -n kube-system "${pod_name}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+		POD_NAME="${pod_name}" NODE_NAME="${node}" envsubst < runtimeclass_workloads/custom-node-debugger.yaml | \
+			kubectl apply -n kube-system -f - > /dev/null
+		# Wait for the newly created pod to be ready
+		kubectl wait pod -n kube-system --timeout="30s" --for=condition=ready "${pod_name}" > /dev/null
+		# Manually check the exit status of the previous command to handle errors explicitly
+		# since `set -e` is not enabled, allowing subsequent commands to run if needed.
+		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+			return $?
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	# Execute the command and capture the output
+	# We're trailing the `\r` here due to: https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/issues/8051
+	# tl;dr: When testing with CRI-O we're facing the following error:
+	# ```
+	# (from function `exec_host' in file tests_common.sh, line 51,
+	# in test file k8s-file-volume.bats, line 25)
+	# `exec_host "echo "$file_body" > $tmp_file"' failed with status 127
+	# [bats-exec-test:38] INFO: k8s configured to use runtimeclass
+	# bash: line 1: $'\r': command not found
+	# ```
+	kubectl exec -qi -n kube-system "${pod_name}" -- chroot /host bash -c "${command}" | tr -d '\r'
+}
+
 # Check the logged messages on host have a given message.
 #
 # Parameters:
@@ -79,7 +119,7 @@ assert_logs_contain() {
 	local message="$4"
 
 	# Note: with image-rs we get more than the default 1000 lines of logs
-	print_node_journal "$node" "$log_id" --since "$datetime" | grep "$message"
+	exec_host "${node}" journalctl -x -t $log_id --since '"'$datetime'"' | grep "$message"
 }
 
 # Create a pod then assert it fails to run. Use in tests that you expect the
@@ -262,27 +302,6 @@ set_node() {
     "${yaml}"
 }
 
-# Get the systemd's journal from a worker node
-#
-# Parameters:
-#	$1 - the k8s worker node name
-#	$2 - the syslog identifier as in journalctl's -t option
-#	$N - (optional) any extra parameters to journalctl
-#
-print_node_journal() {
-	local node="$1"
-	local id="$2"
-	shift 2
-	local img="quay.io/prometheus/busybox"
-
-	kubectl debug --image "$img" -q -i "node/${node}" \
-		-- chroot /host journalctl -x -t "$id" --no-pager "$@"
-	# Delete the debugger pod
-	kubectl get pods -o name | grep "node-debugger-${node}" | \
-		xargs kubectl delete > /dev/null
-}
-
-
 # Get the sandbox id for kata container from a worker node
 #
 # Parameters:
diff --git a/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh b/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
index d21e40d0ec..5339c64f07 100644
--- a/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
+++ b/tests/integration/kubernetes/tests_common.sh
@@ -76,46 +76,6 @@ get_one_kata_node() {
 	echo "${resource_name/"node/"}"
 }
 
-# Runs a command in the host filesystem.
-#
-# Parameters:
-#	$1 - the node name
-#
-exec_host() {
-	local node="$1"
-	# `kubectl debug` always returns 0, so we hack it to return the right exit code.
-	local command="${@:2}"
-	# Make 7 character hash from the node name
-	local pod_name="custom-node-debugger-$(echo -n "$node" | sha1sum | cut -c1-7)"
-
-	# Run a debug pod
-	# Check if there is an existing node debugger pod and reuse it
-	# Otherwise, create a new one
-	if ! kubectl get pod -n kube-system "${pod_name}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-		POD_NAME="${pod_name}" NODE_NAME="${node}" envsubst < runtimeclass_workloads/custom-node-debugger.yaml | \
-			kubectl apply -n kube-system -f - > /dev/null
-		# Wait for the newly created pod to be ready
-		kubectl wait pod -n kube-system --timeout="30s" --for=condition=ready "${pod_name}" > /dev/null
-		# Manually check the exit status of the previous command to handle errors explicitly
-		# since `set -e` is not enabled, allowing subsequent commands to run if needed.
-		if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-			return $?
-		fi
-	fi
-
-	# Execute the command and capture the output
-	# We're trailing the `\r` here due to: https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/issues/8051
-	# tl;dr: When testing with CRI-O we're facing the following error:
-	# ```
-	# (from function `exec_host' in file tests_common.sh, line 51,
-	# in test file k8s-file-volume.bats, line 25)
-	# `exec_host "echo "$file_body" > $tmp_file"' failed with status 127
-	# [bats-exec-test:38] INFO: k8s configured to use runtimeclass
-	# bash: line 1: $'\r': command not found
-	# ```
-	kubectl exec -qi -n kube-system "${pod_name}" -- chroot /host bash -c "${command}" | tr -d '\r'
-}
-
 auto_generate_policy_enabled() {
 	[ "${AUTO_GENERATE_POLICY}" == "yes" ]
 }