diff --git a/test/e2e/instrumentation/monitoring/custom_metrics_deployments.go b/test/e2e/instrumentation/monitoring/custom_metrics_deployments.go
index f7c746eff69..4079a90e742 100644
--- a/test/e2e/instrumentation/monitoring/custom_metrics_deployments.go
+++ b/test/e2e/instrumentation/monitoring/custom_metrics_deployments.go
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func CreateAdapter(adapterDeploymentFile string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	stat, err := framework.RunKubectl("", "create", "-f", adapterURL)
+	stat, err := framework.RunKubectl("", "apply", "-f", adapterURL)
 	framework.Logf(stat)
 	return err
 }