diff --git a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_validation_rules.go b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_validation_rules.go
index bdc7c5c2eb2..6600e3c6ebc 100644
--- a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_validation_rules.go
+++ b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_validation_rules.go
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("CustomResourceValidationRules [Privileged:ClusterAdmin][Alp
 		crd := fixtures.NewRandomNameV1CustomResourceDefinitionWithSchema(v1.NamespaceScoped, schemaWithExpensiveRule, false)
 		_, err := fixtures.CreateNewV1CustomResourceDefinitionWatchUnsafe(crd, apiExtensionClient)
 		framework.ExpectError(err, "creating a CustomResourceDefinition with a validation rule that exceeds the cost limit")
-		expectedErrMsg := "exceeded budget"
+		expectedErrMsg := "exceeds budget"
 		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedErrMsg) {
 			framework.Failf("expected error message to contain %q, got %q", expectedErrMsg, err.Error())
 		}