diff --git a/e2e/internal/contrasttest/contrasttest.go b/e2e/internal/contrasttest/contrasttest.go
index f9c0680eb6..cb23c07027 100644
--- a/e2e/internal/contrasttest/contrasttest.go
+++ b/e2e/internal/contrasttest/contrasttest.go
@@ -27,11 +27,10 @@ import (
 // ContrastTest is the Contrast test helper struct.
 type ContrastTest struct {
 	// inputs, usually filled by New()
-	Namespace           string
-	WorkDir             string
-	AddNamespaceObjects bool
-	ImageReplacements   map[string]string
-	Kubeclient          *kubeclient.Kubeclient
+	Namespace         string
+	WorkDir           string
+	ImageReplacements map[string]string
+	Kubeclient        *kubeclient.Kubeclient
 
 	// outputs of contrast subcommands
 	coordinatorPolicyHash string
@@ -40,13 +39,12 @@ type ContrastTest struct {
 }
 
 // New creates a new contrasttest.T object bound to the given test.
-func New(t *testing.T, namespace string, addNamespaceObjects bool, imageReplacements map[string]string) *ContrastTest {
+func New(t *testing.T, imageReplacements map[string]string) *ContrastTest {
 	return &ContrastTest{
-		Namespace:           namespace,
-		WorkDir:             t.TempDir(),
-		AddNamespaceObjects: addNamespaceObjects,
-		ImageReplacements:   imageReplacements,
-		Kubeclient:          kubeclient.NewForTest(t),
+		Namespace:         makeNamespace(t),
+		WorkDir:           t.TempDir(),
+		ImageReplacements: imageReplacements,
+		Kubeclient:        kubeclient.NewForTest(t),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -54,11 +52,25 @@ func New(t *testing.T, namespace string, addNamespaceObjects bool, imageReplacem
 func (ct *ContrastTest) Init(t *testing.T, resources []any) {
 	require := require.New(t)
 
+	// Create namespace
+	namespace, err := kuberesource.ResourcesToUnstructured([]any{kuberesource.Namespace(ct.Namespace)})
+	require.NoError(err)
+	// Creating a namespace should not take too long.
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
+	err = ct.Kubeclient.Apply(ctx, namespace...)
+	cancel()
+	require.NoError(err)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		// Deleting the namespace may take some time due to pod cleanup, but we don't want to wait until the test times out.
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 2*time.Minute)
+		defer cancel()
+		if err := ct.Kubeclient.Delete(ctx, namespace...); err != nil {
+			t.Logf("Could not delete namespace %q: %v", ct.Namespace, err)
+		}
+	})
+
 	// Prepare resources
 	resources = kuberesource.PatchImages(resources, ct.ImageReplacements)
-	if ct.AddNamespaceObjects {
-		resources = kuberesource.AddNamespaceObjects(resources, ct.Namespace)
-	}
 	resources = kuberesource.PatchNamespaces(resources, ct.Namespace)
 	unstructuredResources, err := kuberesource.ResourcesToUnstructured(resources)
 	require.NoError(err)