diff --git a/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go b/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
index da6c2b1e2c4..80e901f655a 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/hugepages_test.go
@@ -337,7 +337,8 @@ 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()
 
 			waitForHugepages()
 
@@ -352,7 +353,8 @@ 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..6d06019e825 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/util.go
@@ -418,8 +418,14 @@ 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)