diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d6e7c2878..8cf6fad82 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -181,6 +181,14 @@ test-e2e:
 		--ginkgo.trace \
 		--ginkgo.v
 
+# Kind cluster name used by test-e2e-local (must match the cluster you create with kind create cluster --name <name>).
+KIND_CLUSTER ?= koperator-e2e
+
+# Build operator image, load it into kind, and run e2e tests with that image. Use when testing local changes.
+test-e2e-local: docker-build
+	kind load docker-image $(IMG) --name $(KIND_CLUSTER)
+	$(MAKE) test-e2e IMG_E2E=$(IMG)
+
 manager: generate fmt vet ## Generate (kubebuilder) and build manager binary.
 	go build -o bin/manager main.go
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/global.go b/tests/e2e/global.go
index 8102543cc..3cdb379c1 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/global.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/global.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ var (
 		},
 	}
 	// contour ingress controller
+	// Envoy service is set to NodePort so Helm --atomic does not wait for a LoadBalancer
+	// ingress IP (which never comes on kind without MetalLB).
 	contourIngressControllerHelmDescriptor = helmDescriptor{
 		Repository:   "https://projectcontour.github.io/helm-charts",
 		ChartName:    "contour",
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ var (
 		Namespace:    "projectcontour",
 		SetValues: map[string]string{
 			"contour.manageCRDs": "true",
+			"envoy.service.type": "NodePort",
 		},
 		HelmExtraArguments: map[string][]string{
 			"install": {"--timeout", "10m"},
diff --git a/tests/e2e/helm.go b/tests/e2e/helm.go
index 67e3dd709..0c0914663 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/helm.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/helm.go
@@ -191,8 +191,9 @@ func (helmDescriptor *helmDescriptor) installHelmChart(kubectlOptions k8s.Kubect
 	switch {
 	case isInstalled:
 		installedChartName, installedChartVersion := helmRelease.chartNameAndVersion()
+		expectedChartName := chartNameForComparison(helmDescriptor.ChartName)
 
-		if installedChartName != helmDescriptor.ChartName {
+		if installedChartName != expectedChartName {
 			return errors.Errorf(
 				"Installed Helm chart name '%s' mismatches Helm descriptor chart name to be installed '%s'",
 				installedChartName, helmDescriptor.ChartName,
@@ -386,6 +387,19 @@ func (helmRelease *HelmRelease) chartNameAndVersion() (string, string) {
 	return groups[1], groups[2]
 }
 
+// chartNameForComparison returns the chart name to compare with the installed release.
+// For OCI refs (oci://host/path/chart-name), Helm reports only the last segment as the chart name.
+func chartNameForComparison(descriptorChartName string) string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(descriptorChartName, "oci://") {
+		path := strings.TrimPrefix(descriptorChartName, "oci://")
+		if i := strings.LastIndex(path, "/"); i >= 0 && i+1 < len(path) {
+			return path[i+1:]
+		}
+		return path
+	}
+	return descriptorChartName
+}
+
 // listHelmReleases returns a slice of Helm releases retrieved from the cluster
 // using the specified kubectl context and namespace.
 func listHelmReleases(kubectlOptions k8s.KubectlOptions) ([]*HelmRelease, error) {
@@ -415,8 +429,16 @@ func listHelmReleases(kubectlOptions k8s.KubectlOptions) ([]*HelmRelease, error)
 		return nil, errors.WrapIf(err, "listing Helm releases failed")
 	}
 
+	// Helm may print WARNINGs (e.g. kubeconfig permissions) to stdout before the JSON.
+	// Parse only the JSON array: from the first '[' to the end.
+	jsonStart := strings.Index(output, "[")
+	if jsonStart < 0 {
+		return nil, errors.WrapIfWithDetails(errors.New("no JSON array in helm list output"), "parsing Helm releases failed", "output", output)
+	}
+	jsonBytes := strings.TrimSpace(output[jsonStart:])
+
 	var releases []*HelmRelease
-	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(output), &releases)
+	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonBytes), &releases)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.WrapIfWithDetails(err, "parsing Helm releases failed", "output", output)
 	}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/platforms/kind/kind_config.yaml b/tests/e2e/platforms/kind/kind_config.yaml
index 977e3b7fb..65d601b47 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/platforms/kind/kind_config.yaml
+++ b/tests/e2e/platforms/kind/kind_config.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 ---
+# Kind cluster config for e2e tests. Compatible with affinity tests that use
+# topology.kubernetes.io/zone (e.g. config/samples/simplekafkacluster_affinity.yaml).
 kind: Cluster
 apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
 nodes:
@@ -10,8 +12,26 @@ nodes:
         kubeletExtraArgs:
           node-labels: "ingress-ready=true"
   - role: worker
+    kubeadmConfigPatches:
+    - |
+      kind: JoinConfiguration
+      nodeRegistration:
+        kubeletExtraArgs:
+          node-labels: "topology.kubernetes.io/zone=zone-a"
   - role: worker
+    kubeadmConfigPatches:
+    - |
+      kind: JoinConfiguration
+      nodeRegistration:
+        kubeletExtraArgs:
+          node-labels: "topology.kubernetes.io/zone=zone-b"
   - role: worker
+    kubeadmConfigPatches:
+    - |
+      kind: JoinConfiguration
+      nodeRegistration:
+        kubeletExtraArgs:
+          node-labels: "topology.kubernetes.io/zone=zone-c"
 containerdConfigPatches:
 - |-
   [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd]