diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/networking_utils.go b/test/e2e/framework/networking_utils.go
index 0f527d4d65f..e8aaec3269b 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/networking_utils.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/networking_utils.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ var NetexecImageName = imageutils.GetE2EImage(imageutils.Agnhost)
 // adding the well known prefix "0::ffff:" https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2765
 // if the ip is IPv4 and the cluster IPFamily is IPv6, otherwise returns the same ip
 func TranslateIPv4ToIPv6(ip string) string {
-	if TestContext.IPFamily == "ipv6" && !k8utilnet.IsIPv6String(ip) {
+	if TestContext.IPFamily == "ipv6" && !k8utilnet.IsIPv6String(ip) && ip != "" {
 		ip = "0::ffff:" + ip
 	}
 	return ip