diff --git a/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade_test.go b/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade_test.go
index 0fa1013503..c6d12a482a 100644
--- a/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/cluster_upgrade_test.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ var _ = Describe("When upgrading a workload cluster using ClusterClass and testi
 				BootstrapClusterProxy: bootstrapClusterProxy,
 				ArtifactFolder:        artifactFolder,
 				SkipCleanup:           skipCleanup,
+				WorkerMachineCount:    ptr.To[int64](5),
 				// Note: install-on-bootstrap will install Kubernetes on bootstrap if the correct Kubernetes version
 				// cannot be detected. This is required to install versions we don't have images for (e.g. ci/latest-1.30).
 				Flavor: ptr.To("install-on-bootstrap"),