diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b536a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-tests.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+name: E2E Tests
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [labeled]
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  id-token: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  e2e:
+    if: >
+      github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
+      (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.label.name == 'run-e2e')
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Remove run-e2e label
+        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            await github.rest.issues.removeLabel({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              issue_number: context.issue.number,
+              name: 'run-e2e'
+            });
+
+
+      - name: Set up Python 3.12
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+
+      - name: Authenticate to Google Cloud
+        uses: google-github-actions/auth@v2
+        with:
+          workload_identity_provider: ${{ secrets.WIF_PROVIDER }}
+          service_account: ${{ secrets.WIF_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }}
+
+      - name: Set up gcloud
+        uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@v2
+
+      - name: Get GKE credentials
+        uses: google-github-actions/get-gke-credentials@v2
+        with:
+          cluster_name: ${{ secrets.GKE_CLUSTER }}
+          location: ${{ secrets.GKE_ZONE }}
+          project_id: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT }}
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: pip install -e ".[test,cli]"
+
+      - name: Run E2E tests
+        env:
+          E2E_TESTS: "1"
+          KERAS_REMOTE_PROJECT: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT }}
+          KERAS_REMOTE_ZONE: ${{ secrets.GKE_ZONE }}
+          KERAS_REMOTE_GKE_CLUSTER: ${{ secrets.GKE_CLUSTER }}
+        run: python -m unittest discover -s tests/e2e -p "*_test.py" -v
diff --git a/keras_remote/backend/execution.py b/keras_remote/backend/execution.py
index cd5e544..755ffbf 100644
--- a/keras_remote/backend/execution.py
+++ b/keras_remote/backend/execution.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 import cloudpickle
 from absl import logging
+from google.api_core import exceptions as google_exceptions
 
 from keras_remote.backend import gke_client, pathways_client
 from keras_remote.constants import get_default_zone, zone_to_region
@@ -294,13 +295,26 @@ def execute_remote(ctx: JobContext, backend: BackendClient) -> Any:
     job = backend.submit_job(ctx)
 
     # Phase 5: Wait for completion (with cleanup on failure)
+    job_error = None
     try:
       backend.wait_for_job(job, ctx)
+    except RuntimeError as e:
+      job_error = e
     finally:
       backend.cleanup_job(job, ctx)
 
     # Phase 6: Download and deserialize result
-    result_payload = _download_result(ctx)
+    # Try even if the job failed — the runner may have captured a user
+    # exception and uploaded the result before exiting with non-zero.
+    if job_error is not None:
+      try:
+        result_payload = _download_result(ctx)
+      except google_exceptions.NotFound:
+        # Result wasn't uploaded (infrastructure failure), surface the
+        # original job error.
+        raise job_error from None
+    else:
+      result_payload = _download_result(ctx)
 
     # Phase 7: Cleanup and return/raise
     return _cleanup_and_return(ctx, result_payload)
diff --git a/keras_remote/backend/execution_test.py b/keras_remote/backend/execution_test.py
index 64d2405..d7c9088 100644
--- a/keras_remote/backend/execution_test.py
+++ b/keras_remote/backend/execution_test.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
 
 from absl.testing import absltest
+from google.api_core import exceptions as google_exceptions
 
 from keras_remote.backend.execution import (
   JobContext,
@@ -175,6 +176,10 @@ def test_cleanup_on_wait_failure(self):
     with (
       mock.patch("keras_remote.backend.execution._build_container"),
       mock.patch("keras_remote.backend.execution._upload_artifacts"),
+      mock.patch(
+        "keras_remote.backend.execution._download_result",
+        side_effect=google_exceptions.NotFound("no result uploaded"),
+      ),
     ):
       ctx = self._make_ctx()
       backend = MagicMock()
diff --git a/tests/e2e/cpu_execution_test.py b/tests/e2e/cpu_execution_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc7cb8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/cpu_execution_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+"""E2E tests for remote execution with CPU accelerator.
+
+These tests require a real GCP project with:
+- A GKE cluster with a CPU node pool
+- Cloud Storage, Cloud Build, and Artifact Registry APIs enabled
+- Proper IAM permissions
+
+Set E2E_TESTS=1 to enable.
+"""
+
+import os
+from unittest import mock
+
+from absl.testing import absltest
+
+import keras_remote
+from tests.e2e.e2e_utils import skip_unless_e2e
+
+
+@skip_unless_e2e()
+class TestCpuExecution(absltest.TestCase):
+  def setUp(self):
+    super().setUp()
+
+  def test_simple_function(self):
+    """Execute a simple add function remotely and verify the result."""
+
+    @keras_remote.run(accelerator="cpu")
+    def add(a, b):
+      return a + b
+
+    result = add(2, 3)
+    self.assertEqual(result, 5)
+
+  def test_complex_return_type(self):
+    """Verify complex return types survive serialization roundtrip."""
+
+    @keras_remote.run(accelerator="cpu")
+    def complex_return():
+      return {
+        "key": [1, 2, 3],
+        "nested": {"a": True, "b": None},
+        "tuple": (4, 5),
+      }
+
+    result = complex_return()
+    self.assertEqual(result["key"], [1, 2, 3])
+    self.assertTrue(result["nested"]["a"])
+    self.assertIsNone(result["nested"]["b"])
+    self.assertEqual(result["tuple"], (4, 5))
+
+  def test_function_that_raises(self):
+    """Verify remote exceptions are re-raised locally."""
+
+    @keras_remote.run(accelerator="cpu")
+    def bad_func():
+      raise ValueError("intentional test error")
+
+    with self.assertRaisesRegex(ValueError, "intentional test error"):
+      bad_func()
+
+  def test_env_var_propagation(self):
+    """Verify captured env vars are available in the remote environment."""
+    with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"E2E_TEST_VAR": "hello_from_local"}):
+
+      @keras_remote.run(
+        accelerator="cpu",
+        capture_env_vars=["E2E_TEST_VAR"],
+      )
+      def read_env():
+        return os.environ.get("E2E_TEST_VAR")
+
+      result = read_env()
+      self.assertEqual(result, "hello_from_local")
+
+  def test_function_with_args_and_kwargs(self):
+    """Verify positional and keyword arguments are passed correctly."""
+
+    @keras_remote.run(accelerator="cpu")
+    def compute(x, y, scale=1.0, offset=0.0):
+      return (x + y) * scale + offset
+
+    result = compute(3, 4, scale=2.0, offset=1.0)
+    self.assertEqual(result, 15.0)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+  absltest.main()
diff --git a/tests/e2e/e2e_utils.py b/tests/e2e/e2e_utils.py
index 35e4b94..5e36900 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/e2e_utils.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/e2e_utils.py
@@ -7,11 +7,3 @@
 def skip_unless_e2e(reason="E2E_TESTS not set"):
   """Skip decorator for e2e tests unless E2E_TESTS env var is set."""
   return unittest.skipUnless(os.environ.get("E2E_TESTS"), reason)
-
-
-def get_gcp_project():
-  """Return GCP project from env, skip test if not set."""
-  project = os.environ.get("KERAS_REMOTE_PROJECT")
-  if not project:
-    raise unittest.SkipTest("KERAS_REMOTE_PROJECT not set")
-  return project