diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/job/fixtures.go b/test/e2e/framework/job/fixtures.go
index 27c46289043..6514bb3e243 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/job/fixtures.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/job/fixtures.go
@@ -92,6 +92,12 @@ func NewTestJobOnNode(behavior, name string, rPol v1.RestartPolicy, parallelism,
 		}
 	}
 	switch behavior {
+	case "neverTerminate":
+		// this job is being used in an upgrade job see test/e2e/upgrades/apps/job.go
+		// it should never be optimized, as it always has to restart during an upgrade
+		// and continue running
+		job.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Command = []string{"sleep", "1000000"}
+		job.Spec.Template.Spec.TerminationGracePeriodSeconds = ptr.To(int64(1))
 	case "notTerminate":
 		job.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image = imageutils.GetPauseImageName()
 	case "fail":
diff --git a/test/e2e/upgrades/apps/job.go b/test/e2e/upgrades/apps/job.go
index eb59b4a8cdc..4c1b6e1b298 100644
--- a/test/e2e/upgrades/apps/job.go
+++ b/test/e2e/upgrades/apps/job.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func (t *JobUpgradeTest) Setup(ctx context.Context, f *framework.Framework) {
 	t.namespace = f.Namespace.Name
 
 	ginkgo.By("Creating a job")
-	t.job = e2ejob.NewTestJob("notTerminate", "foo", v1.RestartPolicyOnFailure, 2, 2, nil, 6)
+	t.job = e2ejob.NewTestJob("neverTerminate", "foo", v1.RestartPolicyOnFailure, 2, 2, nil, 6)
 	job, err := e2ejob.CreateJob(ctx, f.ClientSet, t.namespace, t.job)
 	t.job = job
 	framework.ExpectNoError(err)