diff --git a/test/e2e_node/container_restart_test.go b/test/e2e_node/container_restart_test.go
index d4e75dc0f42..40dd999a458 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/container_restart_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/container_restart_test.go
@@ -67,7 +67,10 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Container Restart", feature.CriProxy, framework.WithSerial(
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
 			initialConfig.CrashLoopBackOff.MaxContainerRestartPeriod = &metav1.Duration{Duration: time.Duration(30 * time.Second)}
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{"KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax": true}
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
+			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates["KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax"] = true
 		})
 
 		ginkgo.BeforeEach(func() {
@@ -88,7 +91,10 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Container Restart", feature.CriProxy, framework.WithSerial(
 	ginkgo.Context("Reduced default container restart backs off as expected", func() {
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{"ReduceDefaultCrashLoopBackOffDecay": true}
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
+			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates["ReduceDefaultCrashLoopBackOffDecay"] = true
 		})
 
 		ginkgo.BeforeEach(func() {
@@ -111,9 +117,12 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Container Restart", feature.CriProxy, framework.WithSerial(
 	ginkgo.Context("Lower node config container restart takes precedence", func() {
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{"ReduceDefaultCrashLoopBackOffDecay": true}
 			initialConfig.CrashLoopBackOff.MaxContainerRestartPeriod = &metav1.Duration{Duration: time.Duration(1 * time.Second)}
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{"KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax": true}
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
+			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates["ReduceDefaultCrashLoopBackOffDecay"] = true
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates["KubeletCrashLoopBackOffMax"] = true
 		})
 
 		ginkgo.BeforeEach(func() {
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/kubelet_config_dir_test.go b/test/e2e_node/kubelet_config_dir_test.go
index a250980cdfe..f5f0eca869e 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/kubelet_config_dir_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/kubelet_config_dir_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	kubeletconfig "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/config"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/feature"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework"
+	"k8s.io/utils/cpuset"
 )
 
 var _ = SIGDescribe("Kubelet Config", framework.WithSlow(), framework.WithSerial(), framework.WithDisruptive(), feature.KubeletConfigDropInDir, func() {
@@ -138,6 +140,12 @@ featureGates:
 			if initialConfig.SystemReserved == nil {
 				initialConfig.SystemReserved = map[string]string{}
 			}
+			if initialConfig.ReservedSystemCPUs != "" {
+				reservedCPUSet, err := cpuset.Parse(initialConfig.ReservedSystemCPUs)
+				if err == nil {
+					initialConfig.SystemReserved["cpu"] = strconv.Itoa(reservedCPUSet.Size())
+				}
+			}
 			initialConfig.SystemReserved["memory"] = "2Gi"
 			initialConfig.ClusterDNS = []string{"192.168.1.1", "192.168.1.5", "192.168.1.8"} // overridden by slice in second file.
 			// This value was explicitly set in the drop-in, make sure it is retained
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/node_shutdown_linux_test.go b/test/e2e_node/node_shutdown_linux_test.go
index 4470981b974..51878480b5d 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/node_shutdown_linux_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/node_shutdown_linux_test.go
@@ -93,10 +93,11 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("GracefulNodeShutdown", framework.WithSerial(), feature.Grac
 		)
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown):                   true,
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority): false,
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
 			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown)] = true
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority)] = false
 			initialConfig.ShutdownGracePeriod = metav1.Duration{Duration: nodeShutdownGracePeriod}
 		})
 
@@ -195,11 +196,13 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("GracefulNodeShutdown", framework.WithSerial(), feature.Grac
 		)
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown):                   true,
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority): false,
-				string(features.PodReadyToStartContainersCondition):     true,
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
 			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown)] = true
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority)] = false
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.PodReadyToStartContainersCondition)] = true
+
 			initialConfig.ShutdownGracePeriod = metav1.Duration{Duration: nodeShutdownGracePeriod}
 			initialConfig.ShutdownGracePeriodCriticalPods = metav1.Duration{Duration: nodeShutdownGracePeriodCriticalPods}
 		})
@@ -390,10 +393,12 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("GracefulNodeShutdown", framework.WithSerial(), feature.Grac
 		)
 
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown):                   true,
-				string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority): true,
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
 			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdown)] = true
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.GracefulNodeShutdownBasedOnPodPriority)] = true
+
 			initialConfig.ShutdownGracePeriodByPodPriority = []kubeletconfig.ShutdownGracePeriodByPodPriority{
 				{
 					Priority:                   scheduling.SystemCriticalPriority,
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/pod_conditions_test.go b/test/e2e_node/pod_conditions_test.go
index 4641d9c2131..46ff72033f2 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/pod_conditions_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/pod_conditions_test.go
@@ -50,9 +50,10 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Pod conditions managed by Kubelet", func() {
 
 	f.Context("including PodReadyToStartContainers condition", f.WithSerial(), feature.PodReadyToStartContainersCondition, func() {
 		tempSetCurrentKubeletConfig(f, func(ctx context.Context, initialConfig *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) {
-			initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{
-				string(features.PodReadyToStartContainersCondition): true,
+			if initialConfig.FeatureGates == nil {
+				initialConfig.FeatureGates = map[string]bool{}
 			}
+			initialConfig.FeatureGates[string(features.PodReadyToStartContainersCondition)] = true
 		})
 		ginkgo.It("a pod without init containers should report all conditions set in expected order after the pod is up", runPodReadyConditionsTest(f, false, true))
 		ginkgo.It("a pod with init containers should report all conditions set in expected order after the pod is up", runPodReadyConditionsTest(f, true, true))