diff --git a/test/e2e_node/numa_alignment.go b/test/e2e_node/numa_alignment.go
index 11a55ed6186..a1c17454d36 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/numa_alignment.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/numa_alignment.go
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ package e2enode
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -153,12 +155,7 @@ func getPCIDeviceToNumaNodeMapFromEnv(f *framework.Framework, pod *v1.Pod, envir
 		for _, pciDev := range pciDevs {
 			pciDevNUMANode := f.ExecCommandInContainer(pod.Name, pod.Spec.Containers[0].Name,
 				"/bin/cat", fmt.Sprintf("/sys/bus/pci/devices/%s/numa_node", pciDev))
-
-			nodeNum, err := strconv.Atoi(pciDevNUMANode)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
-			NUMAPerDev[pciDev] = nodeNum
+			NUMAPerDev[pciDev] = numaNodeFromSysFsEntry(pciDevNUMANode)
 		}
 	}
 	if len(NUMAPerDev) == 0 {
@@ -209,3 +206,56 @@ func checkNUMAAlignment(f *framework.Framework, pod *v1.Pod, logs string, numaNo
 	}
 	return numaRes, nil
 }
+
+type pciDeviceInfo struct {
+	Address  string
+	NUMANode int
+	IsPhysFn bool
+	IsVFn    bool
+}
+
+func getPCIDeviceInfo(sysPCIDir string) ([]pciDeviceInfo, error) {
+	var pciDevs []pciDeviceInfo
+
+	entries, err := ioutil.ReadDir(sysPCIDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	for _, entry := range entries {
+		isPhysFn := false
+		isVFn := false
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(sysPCIDir, entry.Name(), "sriov_numvfs")); err == nil {
+			isPhysFn = true
+		} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			// unexpected error. Bail out
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(sysPCIDir, entry.Name(), "physfn")); err == nil {
+			isVFn = true
+		} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			// unexpected error. Bail out
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		content, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(sysPCIDir, entry.Name(), "numa_node"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		pciDevs = append(pciDevs, pciDeviceInfo{
+			Address:  entry.Name(),
+			NUMANode: numaNodeFromSysFsEntry(string(content)),
+			IsPhysFn: isPhysFn,
+			IsVFn:    isVFn,
+		})
+	}
+
+	return pciDevs, nil
+}
+
+func numaNodeFromSysFsEntry(content string) int {
+	nodeNum, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(content))
+	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "error detecting the device numa_node from sysfs: %v", err)
+	return nodeNum
+}
diff --git a/test/e2e_node/topology_manager_test.go b/test/e2e_node/topology_manager_test.go
index ce025d03c12..6ec77a58cfb 100644
--- a/test/e2e_node/topology_manager_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e_node/topology_manager_test.go
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func makeTopologyManagerTestPod(podName, podCmd string, tmCtnAttributes []tmCtnA
 	}
 }
 
-func findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevices(configMap *v1.ConfigMap, numaNodes int) (int, bool) {
+func findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevicesFromConfigMap(configMap *v1.ConfigMap, numaNodes int) (int, bool) {
 	for nodeNum := 0; nodeNum < numaNodes; nodeNum++ {
 		value, ok := configMap.Annotations[fmt.Sprintf("pcidevice_node%d", nodeNum)]
 		if !ok {
@@ -154,6 +154,46 @@ func findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevices(configMap *v1.ConfigMap, numaNodes int) (in
 	return -1, false
 }
 
+func findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevicesFromSysfs(numaNodes int) (int, bool) {
+	pciDevs, err := getPCIDeviceInfo("/sys/bus/pci/devices")
+	if err != nil {
+		framework.Failf("error detecting the PCI device NUMA node: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	pciPerNuma := make(map[int]int)
+	for _, pciDev := range pciDevs {
+		if pciDev.IsVFn {
+			pciPerNuma[pciDev.NUMANode]++
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(pciPerNuma) == 0 {
+		// if we got this far we already passed a rough check that SRIOV devices
+		// are available in the box, so something is seriously wrong
+		framework.Failf("failed to find any VF devices from %v", pciDevs)
+	}
+
+	for nodeNum := 0; nodeNum < numaNodes; nodeNum++ {
+		v := pciPerNuma[nodeNum]
+		if v == 0 {
+			framework.Logf("NUMA node %d has no SRIOV devices attached", nodeNum)
+			return nodeNum, true
+		}
+		framework.Logf("NUMA node %d has %d SRIOV devices attached", nodeNum, v)
+	}
+	return -1, false
+}
+
+func findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevices(configMap *v1.ConfigMap, numaNodes int) (int, bool) {
+	// if someone annotated the configMap, let's use this information
+	if nodeNum, found := findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevicesFromConfigMap(configMap, numaNodes); found {
+		return nodeNum, found
+	}
+	// no annotations, try to autodetect
+	// NOTE: this assumes all the VFs in the box can be used for the tests.
+	return findNUMANodeWithoutSRIOVDevicesFromSysfs(numaNodes)
+}
+
 func configureTopologyManagerInKubelet(f *framework.Framework, oldCfg *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration, policy string, configMap *v1.ConfigMap, numaNodes int) string {
 	// Configure Topology Manager in Kubelet with policy.
 	newCfg := oldCfg.DeepCopy()