diff --git a/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go b/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
index 25f44a0fd1e..08210cb81f9 100644
--- a/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
+++ b/test/e2e/kubectl/kubectl.go
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Kubectl client", func() {
 				}
 
 				// Verify the proxy server logs saw the connection
-				expectedProxyLog := fmt.Sprintf("Accepting CONNECT to %s", strings.TrimRight(strings.TrimLeft(framework.TestContext.Host, "https://"), "/api"))
+				expectedProxyLog := fmt.Sprintf("Accepting CONNECT to %s", strings.TrimSuffix(strings.TrimPrefix(framework.TestContext.Host, "https://"), "/api"))
 
 				proxyLog := proxyLogs.String()
 				if !strings.Contains(proxyLog, expectedProxyLog) {