diff --git a/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go b/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
index da6c2b1e2c4..d3c54c457dd 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
@@ -337,7 +337,16 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("HugePages [Serial] [Feature:HugePages][NodeSpecialFeature:H
 			setHugepages()
 
 			ginkgo.By("restarting kubelet to pick up pre-allocated hugepages")
-			restartKubelet()
+			// stop the kubelet and wait until the server will restart it automatically
+			stopKubelet()
+			// wait until the kubelet health check will fail
+			gomega.Eventually(func() bool {
+				return kubeletHealthCheck(kubeletHealthCheckURL)
+			}, time.Minute, time.Second).Should(gomega.BeFalse())
+			// wait until the kubelet health check will pass
+			gomega.Eventually(func() bool {
+				return kubeletHealthCheck(kubeletHealthCheckURL)
+			}, 2*time.Minute, 10*time.Second).Should(gomega.BeTrue())
 
 			waitForHugepages()
 
@@ -352,7 +361,8 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("HugePages [Serial] [Feature:HugePages][NodeSpecialFeature:H
 			releaseHugepages()
 
 			ginkgo.By("restarting kubelet to pick up pre-allocated hugepages")
-			restartKubelet()
+			// stop the kubelet and wait until the server will restart it automatically
+			stopKubelet()
 
 			waitForHugepages()
 		})
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/util.go b/test/e2e_node/util.go
index fd6273eac55..4300a993a9c 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/util.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package e2enode
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -70,6 +71,8 @@ const (
 	defaultPodResourcesPath    = "/var/lib/kubelet/pod-resources"
 	defaultPodResourcesTimeout = 10 * time.Second
 	defaultPodResourcesMaxSize = 1024 * 1024 * 16 // 16 Mb
+	kubeletReadOnlyPort        = "10255"
+	kubeletHealthCheckURL      = "http://127.0.0.1:" + kubeletReadOnlyPort + "/healthz"
 )
 
 func getNodeSummary() (*stats.Summary, error) {
@@ -418,14 +421,41 @@ func restartKubelet() {
 // stopKubelet will kill the running kubelet, and returns a func that will restart the process again
 func stopKubelet() func() {
 	kubeletServiceName := findRunningKubletServiceName()
-	stdout, err := exec.Command("sudo", "systemctl", "kill", kubeletServiceName).CombinedOutput()
+
+	// reset the kubelet service start-limit-hit
+	stdout, err := exec.Command("sudo", "systemctl", "reset-failed", kubeletServiceName).CombinedOutput()
+	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "Failed to reset kubelet start-limit-hit with systemctl: %v, %v", err, stdout)
+
+	stdout, err = exec.Command("sudo", "systemctl", "kill", kubeletServiceName).CombinedOutput()
 	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "Failed to stop kubelet with systemctl: %v, %v", err, stdout)
+
 	return func() {
 		stdout, err := exec.Command("sudo", "systemctl", "start", kubeletServiceName).CombinedOutput()
 		framework.ExpectNoError(err, "Failed to restart kubelet with systemctl: %v, %v", err, stdout)
 	}
 }
 
+func kubeletHealthCheck(url string) bool {
+	insecureTransport := http.DefaultTransport.(*http.Transport).Clone()
+	insecureTransport.TLSClientConfig = &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}
+	insecureHTTPClient := &http.Client{
+		Transport: insecureTransport,
+	}
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("HEAD", url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	req.Header.Set("Authorization", fmt.Sprintf("Bearer %s", framework.TestContext.BearerToken))
+	resp, err := insecureHTTPClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Warningf("Health check on %q failed, error=%v", url, err)
+	} else if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		klog.Warningf("Health check on %q failed, status=%d", url, resp.StatusCode)
+	}
+	return err == nil && resp.StatusCode == http.StatusOK
+}
+
 func toCgroupFsName(cgroupName cm.CgroupName) string {
 	if framework.TestContext.KubeletConfig.CgroupDriver == "systemd" {
 		return cgroupName.ToSystemd()