diff --git a/test/e2e/common/expansion.go b/test/e2e/common/expansion.go
index 2513401792c..a50206efb05 100644
--- a/test/e2e/common/expansion.go
+++ b/test/e2e/common/expansion.go
@@ -181,11 +181,16 @@ var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("Variable Expansion", func() {
 		Description: Make sure a container's subpath can not be set using an expansion of environment variables when absolute path is supplied.
 	*/
 	framework.ConformanceIt("should fail substituting values in a volume subpath with absolute path [sig-storage][Slow]", func() {
+		absolutePath := "/tmp"
+		if framework.NodeOSDistroIs("windows") {
+			// Windows does not typically have a C:\tmp folder.
+			absolutePath = "C:\\Users"
+		}
 
 		envVars := []v1.EnvVar{
 			{
 				Name:  "POD_NAME",
-				Value: "/tmp",
+				Value: absolutePath,
 			},
 		}
 		mounts := []v1.VolumeMount{
@@ -367,8 +372,8 @@ func testPodFailSubpath(f *framework.Framework, pod *v1.Pod) {
 		e2epod.DeletePodWithWait(f.ClientSet, pod)
 	}()
 
-	err := e2epod.WaitTimeoutForPodRunningInNamespace(f.ClientSet, pod.Name, pod.Namespace, framework.PodStartShortTimeout)
-	framework.ExpectError(err, "while waiting for pod to be running")
+	err := e2epod.WaitForPodContainerToFail(f.ClientSet, pod.Namespace, pod.Name, 0, "CreateContainerConfigError", framework.PodStartShortTimeout)
+	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "while waiting for the pod container to fail")
 }
 
 func newPod(command []string, envVars []v1.EnvVar, mounts []v1.VolumeMount, volumes []v1.Volume) *v1.Pod {
diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/pod/resource.go b/test/e2e/framework/pod/resource.go
index 155a4e74984..f74ead41179 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/pod/resource.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/pod/resource.go
@@ -298,6 +298,29 @@ func podsRunning(c clientset.Interface, pods *v1.PodList) []error {
 	return e
 }
 
+func podContainerFailed(c clientset.Interface, namespace, podName string, containerIndex int, reason string) wait.ConditionFunc {
+	return func() (bool, error) {
+		pod, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(namespace).Get(context.TODO(), podName, metav1.GetOptions{})
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		switch pod.Status.Phase {
+		case v1.PodPending:
+			if len(pod.Status.ContainerStatuses) == 0 {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+			containerStatus := pod.Status.ContainerStatuses[containerIndex]
+			if containerStatus.State.Waiting != nil && containerStatus.State.Waiting.Reason == reason {
+				return true, nil
+			}
+			return false, nil
+		case v1.PodFailed, v1.PodRunning, v1.PodSucceeded:
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("pod was expected to be pending, but it is in the state: %s", pod.Status.Phase)
+		}
+		return false, nil
+	}
+}
+
 // LogPodStates logs basic info of provided pods for debugging.
 func LogPodStates(pods []v1.Pod) {
 	// Find maximum widths for pod, node, and phase strings for column printing.
diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/pod/wait.go b/test/e2e/framework/pod/wait.go
index 8f1e8be6f8c..9ab2928f86e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/pod/wait.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/pod/wait.go
@@ -537,3 +537,10 @@ func WaitForNRestartablePods(ps *testutils.PodStore, expect int, timeout time.Du
 	}
 	return podNames, nil
 }
+
+// WaitForPodContainerToFail waits for the given Pod container to fail with the given reason, specifically due to
+// invalid container configuration. In this case, the container will remain in a waiting state with a specific
+// reason set, which should match the given reason.
+func WaitForPodContainerToFail(c clientset.Interface, namespace, podName string, containerIndex int, reason string, timeout time.Duration) error {
+	return wait.PollImmediate(poll, timeout, podContainerFailed(c, namespace, podName, containerIndex, reason))
+}