diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4f8562e39..5349f92e0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ HOSTMOUNT_PREFIX ?= /
 
 KUBECONFIG ?=
 E2E_TEST_CONFIG ?=
+E2E_PULL_IF_NOT_PRESENT ?= false
 
 LDFLAGS = -ldflags "-s -w -X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=$(VERSION) -X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/source.pathPrefix=$(HOSTMOUNT_PREFIX)"
 
@@ -167,10 +168,16 @@ test:
 e2e-test:
 	@if [ -z ${KUBECONFIG} ]; then echo "[ERR] KUBECONFIG missing, must be defined"; exit 1; fi
 	$(GO_CMD) test -v ./test/e2e/ -args -nfd.repo=$(IMAGE_REPO) -nfd.tag=$(IMAGE_TAG_NAME) \
-	    -kubeconfig=$(KUBECONFIG) -nfd.e2e-config=$(E2E_TEST_CONFIG) -ginkgo.focus="\[kubernetes-sigs\]" \
+	    -kubeconfig=$(KUBECONFIG) \
+	    -nfd.e2e-config=$(E2E_TEST_CONFIG) \
+	    -nfd.pull-if-not-present=$(E2E_PULL_IF_NOT_PRESENT) \
+	    -ginkgo.focus="\[kubernetes-sigs\]" \
 	    $(if $(OPENSHIFT),-nfd.openshift,)
 	$(GO_CMD) test -v ./test/e2e/ -args -nfd.repo=$(IMAGE_REPO) -nfd.tag=$(IMAGE_TAG_NAME)-minimal \
-	    -kubeconfig=$(KUBECONFIG) -nfd.e2e-config=$(E2E_TEST_CONFIG) -ginkgo.focus="\[kubernetes-sigs\]" \
+	    -kubeconfig=$(KUBECONFIG) \
+	    -nfd.e2e-config=$(E2E_TEST_CONFIG) \
+	    -nfd.pull-if-not-present=$(E2E_PULL_IF_NOT_PRESENT) \
+	    -ginkgo.focus="\[kubernetes-sigs\]" \
 	    $(if $(OPENSHIFT),-nfd.openshift,)
 
 push:
diff --git a/docs/advanced/developer-guide.md b/docs/advanced/developer-guide.md
index d320d06c6..b154e552b 100644
--- a/docs/advanced/developer-guide.md
+++ b/docs/advanced/developer-guide.md
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ makefile overrides.
 | K8S_NAMESPACE              | nfd-master and nfd-worker namespace                               | node-feature-discovery
 | KUBECONFIG                 | Kubeconfig for running e2e-tests                                  | *empty*
 | E2E_TEST_CONFIG            | Parameterization file of e2e-tests (see [example][e2e-config-sample]) | *empty*
+| E2E_PULL_IF_NOT_PRESENT    | True-ish value makes the image pull policy IfNotPresent (to be used only in e2e tests) | false
 | OPENSHIFT                  | Non-empty value enables OpenShift specific support (currently only effective in e2e tests) | *empty*
 | BASE_IMAGE_FULL            | Container base image for target image full (--target full)        | debian:buster-slim
 | BASE_IMAGE_MINIMAL         | Container base image for target image minimal (--target minimal)  | gcr.io/distroless/base
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/pod.go b/test/e2e/utils/pod.go
index bab9914c9..599f68a62 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/pod.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/pod.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"flag"
 	"time"
 
 	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
@@ -30,6 +31,8 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/util/podutils"
 )
 
+var pullIfNotPresent = flag.Bool("nfd.pull-if-not-present", false, "Pull Images if not present - not always")
+
 // NFDMasterPod provide NFD master pod definition
 func NFDMasterPod(image string, onMasterNode bool) *v1.Pod {
 	p := &v1.Pod{
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ func NFDMasterPod(image string, onMasterNode bool) *v1.Pod {
 				{
 					Name:            "node-feature-discovery",
 					Image:           image,
-					ImagePullPolicy: v1.PullAlways,
+					ImagePullPolicy: pullPolicy(),
 					Command:         []string{"nfd-master"},
 					Env: []v1.EnvVar{
 						{
@@ -121,7 +124,7 @@ func nfdWorkerPodSpec(image string, extraArgs []string) *v1.PodSpec {
 			{
 				Name:            "node-feature-discovery",
 				Image:           image,
-				ImagePullPolicy: v1.PullAlways,
+				ImagePullPolicy: pullPolicy(),
 				Command:         []string{"nfd-worker"},
 				Args:            append([]string{"-server=nfd-master-e2e:8080"}, extraArgs...),
 				Env: []v1.EnvVar{
@@ -242,3 +245,10 @@ func WaitForPodsReady(c clientset.Interface, ns, name string, minReadySeconds in
 		return true, nil
 	})
 }
+
+func pullPolicy() v1.PullPolicy {
+	if *pullIfNotPresent {
+		return v1.PullIfNotPresent
+	}
+	return v1.PullAlways
+}