diff --git a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
index f706db5eb..01d825c28 100644
--- a/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
+++ b/tests/gha-run-k8s-common.sh
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ function deploy_k3s() {
 function deploy_rke2() {
 	curl -sfL https://get.rke2.io | sudo sh -
 
-	systemctl enable --now rke2-server.service
+	sudo systemctl enable --now rke2-server.service
 
 	# This is an arbitrary value that came up from local tests
 	sleep 120s