diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/test_context.go b/test/e2e/framework/test_context.go
index e9cae4df0b2..a1e4d9a2a7b 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/test_context.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/test_context.go
@@ -374,4 +374,8 @@ func AfterReadingAllFlags(t *TestContextType) {
 			t.Host = defaultHost
 		}
 	}
+	// Allow 1% of nodes to be unready (statistically) - relevant for large clusters.
+	if t.AllowedNotReadyNodes == 0 {
+		t.AllowedNotReadyNodes = t.CloudConfig.NumNodes / 100
+	}
 }