diff --git a/gauntlet/package.json b/gauntlet/package.json
index c71817d41..84485cf22 100644
--- a/gauntlet/package.json
+++ b/gauntlet/package.json
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   "bin": "packages/gauntlet-solana-contracts/dist/cli.js",
   "scripts": {
     "gauntlet": "yarn build && node ./packages/gauntlet-solana-contracts/dist/cli.js",
+    "gauntlet-nobuild": "node ./packages/gauntlet-solana-contracts/dist/cli.js",
     "gauntlet-serum-multisig": "yarn build && node ./packages/gauntlet-serum-multisig/dist/index.js",
     "lint": "tsc -b ./tsconfig.json",
     "eslint": "eslint -f json -o eslint-report.json ./packages || true",
diff --git a/integration-tests/gauntlet/gauntlet_solana.go b/integration-tests/gauntlet/gauntlet_solana.go
index c4f8bcb59..4a20dbc11 100644
--- a/integration-tests/gauntlet/gauntlet_solana.go
+++ b/integration-tests/gauntlet/gauntlet_solana.go
@@ -121,12 +121,29 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) InstallDependencies() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	sg.G.Command = "gauntlet"
+	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"build"}, *sg.options) // initial build
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	sg.G.Command = "gauntlet-nobuild" // optimization to not rebuild packages each time
 	return nil
 }
 
+// exect is a custom wrapper to use custom set gauntlet command + error wrapping
+func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) exec(args []string, options gauntlet.ExecCommandOptions) (string, error) {
+	var updatedArgs []string
+	updatedArgs = append([]string{sg.G.Command, sg.G.Flag("network", sg.G.Network)}, args...)
+
+	out, err := sg.G.ExecCommand(updatedArgs, options)
+	// wrapping output into err if err present
+	if err != nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("%w\ngauntlet command: %s\nstdout: %s", err, updatedArgs, out)
+	}
+	return out, err
+}
+
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) InitializeAccessController() (string, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"access_controller:initialize"}, *sg.options)
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{"access_controller:initialize"}, *sg.options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -138,7 +155,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) InitializeAccessController() (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) DeployLinkToken() error {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"token:deploy"}, *sg.options)
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{"token:deploy"}, *sg.options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -153,7 +170,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) DeployLinkToken() error {
 }
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) InitializeStore(billingController string) (string, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"store:initialize", fmt.Sprintf("--accessController=%s", billingController)}, *sg.options)
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{"store:initialize", fmt.Sprintf("--accessController=%s", billingController)}, *sg.options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -169,7 +186,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) StoreCreateFeed(length int, feedConfig *ocr2_config.St
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"store:create_feed", fmt.Sprintf("--length=%d", length), fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config))}, *sg.options)
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{"store:create_feed", fmt.Sprintf("--length=%d", length), fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config))}, *sg.options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -182,7 +199,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) StoreCreateFeed(length int, feedConfig *ocr2_config.St
 }
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) StoreSetValidatorConfig(feedAddress string, threshold int) (string, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{"store:set_validator_config", fmt.Sprintf("--feed=%s", feedAddress), fmt.Sprintf("--threshold=%d", threshold)}, *sg.options)
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{"store:set_validator_config", fmt.Sprintf("--feed=%s", feedAddress), fmt.Sprintf("--threshold=%d", threshold)}, *sg.options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -198,7 +215,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) InitializeOCR2(requesterAccessController string, billi
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:initialize",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--requesterAccessController=%s", requesterAccessController),
 		fmt.Sprintf("--billingAccessController=%s", billingAccessController),
@@ -219,7 +236,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) StoreSetWriter(storeConfig *ocr2_config.StoreWriterCon
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"store:set_writer",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config)),
 		ocrAddress,
@@ -243,7 +260,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) OCR2SetBilling(ocr2BillingConfig *ocr2_config.OCR2Bill
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:set_billing",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config)),
 		ocrAddress,
@@ -263,7 +280,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) OCR2SetBilling(ocr2BillingConfig *ocr2_config.OCR2Bill
 }
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) OCR2CreateProposal(version int) (string, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:create_proposal",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--version=%d", version),
 	},
@@ -286,7 +303,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) ProposeOnChainConfig(proposalID string, onChainConfig
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:propose_config",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--proposalId=%s", proposalID),
 		fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config)),
@@ -312,7 +329,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) ProposeOffChainConfig(proposalID string, offChainConfi
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:propose_offchain_config",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--proposalId=%s", proposalID),
 		fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config)),
@@ -338,7 +355,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) ProposePayees(proposalID string, payeesConfig ocr2_con
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:propose_payees",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--proposalId=%s", proposalID),
 		fmt.Sprintf("--input=%v", string(config)),
@@ -359,7 +376,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) ProposePayees(proposalID string, payeesConfig ocr2_con
 }
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) FinalizeProposal(proposalID string) (string, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:finalize_proposal",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--proposalId=%s", proposalID),
 	},
@@ -383,7 +400,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) AcceptProposal(proposalID string, secret string, propo
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	_, err = sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err = sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:accept_proposal",
 		fmt.Sprintf("--proposalId=%s", proposalID),
 		fmt.Sprintf("--secret=%s", secret),
@@ -406,7 +423,7 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) AcceptProposal(proposalID string, secret string, propo
 
 // FetchTransmissions returns the last 10 transmissions
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) FetchTransmissions(ocrState string) ([]Transmission, error) {
-	_, err := sg.G.ExecCommand([]string{
+	_, err := sg.exec([]string{
 		"ocr2:inspect:responses",
 		ocrState,
 	},
@@ -426,11 +443,6 @@ func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) FetchTransmissions(ocrState string) ([]Transmission, e
 
 func (sg *SolanaGauntlet) DeployOCR2() (string, error) {
 	var err error
-	err = sg.InstallDependencies()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-
 	sg.AccessControllerAddress, err = sg.InitializeAccessController()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/integration-tests/smoke/ocr2_test.go b/integration-tests/smoke/ocr2_test.go
index f9c4f09d6..645efb4b2 100644
--- a/integration-tests/smoke/ocr2_test.go
+++ b/integration-tests/smoke/ocr2_test.go
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ func TestSolanaOCRV2Smoke(t *testing.T) {
 
 			err = sg.SetupNetwork(gauntletConfig)
 			require.NoError(t, err, "Error setting gauntlet network")
+			err = sg.InstallDependencies()
+			require.NoError(t, err, "Error installing gauntlet dependencies")
 
 			if *config.Common.Network == "devnet" {
 				state.Common.ChainDetails.ProgramAddresses.OCR2 = *config.SolanaConfig.OCR2ProgramID