diff --git a/test/e2e/node/gpu.go b/test/e2e/node/gpu.go
index d1cd1037972..1f1a4a409bf 100644
--- a/test/e2e/node/gpu.go
+++ b/test/e2e/node/gpu.go
@@ -153,13 +153,12 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe(feature.GPUDevicePlugin, framework.WithSerial(), "Test using
 func createAndValidatePod(ctx context.Context, f *framework.Framework, podClient *e2epod.PodClient, pod *v1.Pod) {
 	pod = podClient.Create(ctx, pod)
 
-	ginkgo.By("Watching for error events or started pod")
-	ev, err := podClient.WaitForErrorEventOrSuccessWithTimeout(ctx, pod, framework.PodStartTimeout*6)
+	ginkgo.By("Waiting for pod to start")
+	err := e2epod.WaitTimeoutForPodRunningInNamespace(ctx, f.ClientSet, pod.Name, f.Namespace.Name, framework.PodStartTimeout*6)
 	framework.ExpectNoError(err)
-	gomega.Expect(ev).To(gomega.BeNil())
 
 	ginkgo.By("Waiting for pod completion")
-	err = e2epod.WaitForPodNoLongerRunningInNamespace(ctx, f.ClientSet, pod.Name, f.Namespace.Name)
+	err = e2epod.WaitTimeoutForPodNoLongerRunningInNamespace(ctx, f.ClientSet, pod.Name, f.Namespace.Name, framework.PodStartTimeout*6)
 	framework.ExpectNoError(err)
 	pod, err = podClient.Get(ctx, pod.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
 	framework.ExpectNoError(err)
@@ -184,9 +183,26 @@ func testNvidiaCLIPod() *v1.Pod {
 						"bash",
 						"-c",
 						`
-nvidia-smi
-apt-get update -y && \
-	DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --allow-unauthenticated cuda-demo-suite-12-5
+set -euo pipefail
+
+nvidia_smi_ready=false
+for i in $(seq 1 12); do
+	nvidia_smi_output="$(nvidia-smi 2>&1 || true)"
+	echo "${nvidia_smi_output}"
+	if [[ "${nvidia_smi_output}" == *"NVIDIA-SMI"* ]]; then
+		nvidia_smi_ready=true
+		break
+	fi
+	echo "nvidia-smi did not become ready yet (attempt ${i}/12), retrying in 10s"
+	sleep 10
+done
+if [[ "${nvidia_smi_ready}" != "true" ]]; then
+	echo "nvidia-smi never became ready"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+apt-get update -y -o Acquire::Retries=5 && \
+	DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --allow-unauthenticated -o Acquire::Retries=5 cuda-demo-suite-12-5
 /usr/local/cuda/extras/demo_suite/deviceQuery
 /usr/local/cuda/extras/demo_suite/vectorAdd
 /usr/local/cuda/extras/demo_suite/bandwidthTest --device=all --csv