diff --git a/workspaces/controller/Makefile b/workspaces/controller/Makefile
index 6032c8c9..b30fc6ff 100644
--- a/workspaces/controller/Makefile
+++ b/workspaces/controller/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Image URL to use all building/pushing image targets
 IMG ?= controller:latest
+
 # ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION refers to the version of kubebuilder assets to be downloaded by envtest binary.
 ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION = 1.31.0
 
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ test-e2e: manifests generate fmt vet ## Run the e2e tests. Expected an isolated
 		echo "No Kind cluster is running. Please start a Kind cluster before running the e2e tests."; \
 		exit 1; \
 	}
-	go test ./test/e2e/ -v -ginkgo.v
+	go test ./test/e2e/ -v -ginkgo.v -args -controller-image=${IMG}
 
 .PHONY: lint
 lint: golangci-lint ## Run golangci-lint linter
diff --git a/workspaces/controller/README.md b/workspaces/controller/README.md
index b4c97ce2..38e8ead0 100644
--- a/workspaces/controller/README.md
+++ b/workspaces/controller/README.md
@@ -49,6 +49,18 @@ kubectl apply -k config/samples/
 
 >**NOTE**: Ensure that the samples has default values to test it out.
 
+**Run the e2e tests**
+
+```sh
+make test-e2e
+```
+
+If you would like to run the tests with a given image, use the IMG parameter:
+
+```sh
+make test-e2e IMG=<some-registry>/workspace-controller:tag
+```
+
 ### To Uninstall
 **Delete the instances (CRs) from the cluster:**
 
diff --git a/workspaces/controller/test/e2e/e2e_test.go b/workspaces/controller/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
index 9d075f31..707bb5b5 100644
--- a/workspaces/controller/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/workspaces/controller/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package e2e
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -34,8 +35,8 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// controller configs
-	controllerNamespace = "workspace-controller-system"
-	controllerImage     = "ghcr.io/kubeflow/notebooks/workspace-controller:latest"
+	controllerNamespace    = "workspace-controller-system"
+	defaultControllerImage = "ghcr.io/kubeflow/notebooks/workspace-controller:latest"
 
 	// workspace configs
 	workspaceNamespace = "workspace-test"
@@ -60,13 +61,23 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	projectDir = ""
+	projectDir      = ""
+	controllerImage = ""
 )
 
+func init() {
+	flag.StringVar(&controllerImage, "controller-image",
+		defaultControllerImage, "Workspace controller image to use for the test")
+}
+
 var _ = Describe("controller", Ordered, func() {
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
 		projectDir, _ = utils.GetProjectDir()
+		// This ensures flags are parsed before tests run
+		if !flag.Parsed() {
+			flag.Parse()
+		}
 
 		By("creating the controller namespace")
 		cmd := exec.Command("kubectl", "create", "ns", controllerNamespace)