diff --git a/test/e2e/self_hosted.go b/test/e2e/self_hosted.go
index 5cef4f93d664..76e21e3b609b 100644
--- a/test/e2e/self_hosted.go
+++ b/test/e2e/self_hosted.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func SelfHostedSpec(ctx context.Context, inputGetter func() SelfHostedSpecInput)
 		// controller images into the nodes.
 		if hasDockerInfrastructureProvider {
 			images := []string{}
-			if preloadList := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.TrimPrefix(clusterctlVariables["DOCKER_PRELOAD_IMAGES"], "["), "]"); preloadList != "" {
+			if preloadList := strings.TrimSuffix(strings.TrimPrefix(input.E2EConfig.GetVariableOrEmpty("DOCKER_PRELOAD_IMAGES"), "["), "]"); preloadList != "" {
 				images = strings.Split(preloadList, ",")
 			}
 			for _, image := range input.E2EConfig.Images {