diff --git a/tests/common.sh b/tests/common.sh
index 39a3f725..cccf900e 100755
--- a/tests/common.sh
+++ b/tests/common.sh
@@ -60,12 +60,12 @@ check_url() {
 check_k3d_clusters() {
   [ -n "$EXE" ] || abort "EXE is not defined"
   for c in "$@" ; do
-    kc=$($EXE get kubeconfig "$c")
-    [ -n "$kc" ] || abort "could not obtain a kubeconfig for $c"
-    if kubectl --kubeconfig="$kc" cluster-info ; then
-      passed "cluster $c is reachable (with kubeconfig=$kc)"
+    $EXE --verbose get kubeconfig "$c" --switch
+    #[ -n "$kc" ] || abort "could not obtain a kubeconfig for $c"
+    if kubectl cluster-info ; then
+      passed "cluster $c is reachable"
     else
-      warn "could not obtain cluster info for $c (with kubeconfig=$kc). Contents:\n$(cat $kc)"
+      warn "could not obtain cluster info for $c. Kubeconfig:\n$(kubectl config view)"
       return 1
     fi
   done
diff --git a/tests/runner.sh b/tests/runner.sh
index f3f3e10e..289d5d8b 100755
--- a/tests/runner.sh
+++ b/tests/runner.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
 
 [ -n "$EXE" ] || abort "no EXE provided"
 
+info "Preparing filesystem and environment..."
+
+mkdir -p /root/.kube
+
 info "Starting e2e tests..."
 
 for i in $CURR_DIR/test_*.sh ; do
diff --git a/tests/test_multi_master.sh b/tests/test_multi_master.sh
index 256c3d73..3e095f76 100755
--- a/tests/test_multi_master.sh
+++ b/tests/test_multi_master.sh
@@ -9,20 +9,22 @@ source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
 info "Creating cluster multimaster..."
 $EXE --verbose create cluster "multimaster" --masters 3 --api-port 6443 --wait --timeout 360s || failed "could not create cluster multimaster"
 
-info "Checking we have access to the cluster..."
+info "Checking that we have access to the cluster..."
 check_k3d_clusters "multimaster" || failed "error checking cluster"
 
-info "Checking that we have 3 servers online..."
+info "Sleeping for 5 seconds to give the cluster enough time to get ready..."
+sleep 5
+
+info "Checking that we have 3 master nodes online..."
 check_multi_master() {
   for c in "$@" ; do
-    kc=$($EXE get kubeconfig "$c")
-    [ -n "$kc" ] || abort "could not obtain a kubeconfig for $c"
-    nodeCount=$(kubectl --kubeconfig="$kc" get nodes -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name --no-headers | wc -l)
+    $EXE get kubeconfig "$c" --switch
+    nodeCount=$(kubectl get nodes -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name --no-headers | wc -l)
     if [[ $nodeCount == 3 ]]; then
       passed "cluster $c has 3 nodes, as expected"
     else
       warn "cluster $c has incorrect number of nodes: $nodeCount != 3"
-      kubectl --kubeconfig="$kc" get nodes -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name --no-headers
+      kubectl get nodes -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name --no-headers
       return 1
     fi
   done