diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/rc_util.go b/test/e2e/framework/rc_util.go
index edd88dd0ba4..d7a88937f26 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/rc_util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/rc_util.go
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ func ValidateController(c clientset.Interface, containerImage string, replicas i
 	// You can read about the syntax here: http://golang.org/pkg/text/template/.
 	getContainerStateTemplate := fmt.Sprintf(`--template={{if (exists . "status" "containerStatuses")}}{{range .status.containerStatuses}}{{if (and (eq .name "%s") (exists . "state" "running"))}}true{{end}}{{end}}{{end}}`, containername)
 
-	getImageTemplate := fmt.Sprintf(`--template={{if (exists . "status" "containerStatuses")}}{{range .status.containerStatuses}}{{if eq .name "%s"}}{{.image}}{{end}}{{end}}{{end}}`, containername)
+	getImageTemplate := fmt.Sprintf(`--template={{if (exists . "spec" "containers")}}{{range .spec.containers}}{{if eq .name "%s"}}{{.image}}{{end}}{{end}}{{end}}`, containername)
 
 	By(fmt.Sprintf("waiting for all containers in %s pods to come up.", testname)) //testname should be selector
 waitLoop: