diff --git a/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh b/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
index 6457e26f4e45..9c2c720fece2 100644
--- a/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
@@ -44,6 +44,15 @@ k8s::prepareKindestImages() {
     kind::prepareKindestImage "$resolveVersion"
   fi
 
+  # If the test focuses on [PR-Blocking], default KUBERNETES_VERSION
+  # to the value in the e2e config if it is not set.
+  # Note: We do this because kind images might not yet be released.
+  if [[ "${GINKGO_FOCUS}" == "\[PR-Blocking\]" ]; then
+    if [[ -z "${KUBERNETES_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+    fi
+    KUBERNETES_VERSION=$(grep KUBERNETES_VERSION: < "$E2E_CONF_FILE" | awk -F'"' '{ print $2}')
+  fi
+
   if [ -n "${KUBERNETES_VERSION:-}" ]; then
     k8s::resolveVersion "KUBERNETES_VERSION" "$KUBERNETES_VERSION"
     export KUBERNETES_VERSION=$resolveVersion