diff --git a/flow/e2e/postgres/qrep_flow_pg_test.go b/flow/e2e/postgres/qrep_flow_pg_test.go
index dbb6d5dc2e..d2d68a789f 100644
--- a/flow/e2e/postgres/qrep_flow_pg_test.go
+++ b/flow/e2e/postgres/qrep_flow_pg_test.go
@@ -169,15 +169,27 @@ func (s PeerFlowE2ETestSuitePG) checkSyncedAt(dstSchemaQualified string) error {
 }
 
 func (s PeerFlowE2ETestSuitePG) TestSimpleSlotCreation() {
-	tables := map[string]string{
-		fmt.Sprintf("e2e_test_%s.test_1", s.suffix): "test_1_dst",
+	setupTx, err := s.pool.Begin(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(s.t, err)
+	// setup 3 tables in pgpeer_repl_test schema
+	// test_1, test_2, test_3, all have 5 columns all text, c1, c2, c3, c4, c5
+	tables := []string{"test_1", "test_2", "test_3"}
+	for _, table := range tables {
+		_, err = setupTx.Exec(context.Background(),
+			fmt.Sprintf("CREATE TABLE pgpeer_repl_test.%s (c1 text, c2 text, c3 text, c4 text, c5 text)", table))
+		require.NoError(s.t, err)
 	}
 
+	err = setupTx.Commit(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(s.t, err)
+
 	flowJobName := "test_simple_slot_creation"
 	flowLog := slog.String(string(shared.FlowNameKey), flowJobName)
 	setupReplicationInput := &protos.SetupReplicationInput{
-		FlowJobName:      flowJobName,
-		TableNameMapping: tables,
+		FlowJobName: flowJobName,
+		TableNameMapping: map[string]string{
+			fmt.Sprintf("e2e_test_%s.test_1", s.suffix): "test_1_dst",
+		},
 	}
 
 	signal := connpostgres.NewSlotSignal()