diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d5e583b2d0..4ff24853b2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ helm-install-local: install-gateway-crds ## Helm install NGF on configured kind
 	@if [ "$(ENABLE_INFERENCE_EXTENSION)" = "true" ]; then \
 		$(MAKE) install-inference-crds; \
 	fi
-	helm install nginx-gateway $(CHART_DIR) --set nginx.image.repository=$(NGINX_PREFIX) --create-namespace --wait --set nginxGateway.image.pullPolicy=Never --set nginx.service.type=NodePort --set nginxGateway.image.repository=$(PREFIX) --set nginxGateway.image.tag=$(TAG) --set nginx.image.tag=$(TAG) --set nginx.image.pullPolicy=Never --set nginxGateway.gwAPIExperimentalFeatures.enable=$(ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL) -n nginx-gateway $(HELM_PARAMETERS)
+	helm install nginx-gateway $(CHART_DIR) --set nginx.image.repository=$(NGINX_PREFIX) --create-namespace --wait --set nginxGateway.image.pullPolicy=$(PULL_POLICY) --set nginx.service.type=$(NGINX_SERVICE_TYPE) --set nginxGateway.image.repository=$(PREFIX) --set nginxGateway.image.tag=$(TAG) --set nginx.image.tag=$(TAG) --set nginx.image.pullPolicy=$(PULL_POLICY) --set nginxGateway.gwAPIExperimentalFeatures.enable=$(ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL) -n nginx-gateway $(HELM_PARAMETERS)
 
 .PHONY: helm-install-local-with-plus
 helm-install-local-with-plus: check-for-plus-usage-endpoint install-gateway-crds ## Helm install NGF with NGINX Plus on configured kind cluster with local images. To build, load, and install with helm run make install-ngf-local-build-with-plus.
diff --git a/tests/Makefile b/tests/Makefile
index c2c38b23ca..320049777f 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ GW_API_VERSION ?= $(shell sed -n 's/.*ref=v\(.*\)/\1/p' ../config/crd/gateway-ap
 GW_API_PREV_VERSION ?= 1.3.0## Supported Gateway API version from previous NGF release
 GW_SERVICE_TYPE = NodePort## Service type to use for the gateway
 NGF_VERSION ?= edge## NGF version to be tested
-PULL_POLICY = Never## Pull policy for the images
+PULL_POLICY ?= Never## Pull policy for the images
 NGINX_CONF_DIR = internal/controller/nginx/conf
 SUPPORTED_EXTENDED_FEATURES = HTTPRouteQueryParamMatching,HTTPRouteMethodMatching,HTTPRoutePortRedirect,HTTPRouteSchemeRedirect,HTTPRouteHostRewrite,HTTPRoutePathRewrite,GatewayPort8080,GatewayAddressEmpty,HTTPRouteResponseHeaderModification,HTTPRoutePathRedirect,GatewayHTTPListenerIsolation,GatewayInfrastructurePropagation,HTTPRouteRequestMirror,HTTPRouteRequestMultipleMirrors,HTTPRouteRequestPercentageMirror,HTTPRouteBackendProtocolWebSocket,HTTPRouteParentRefPort,HTTPRouteDestinationPortMatching,GatewayStaticAddresses
 SUPPORTED_EXTENDED_FEATURES_OPENSHIFT = HTTPRouteQueryParamMatching,HTTPRouteMethodMatching,HTTPRoutePortRedirect,HTTPRouteSchemeRedirect,HTTPRouteHostRewrite,HTTPRoutePathRewrite,GatewayPort8080,GatewayAddressEmpty,HTTPRouteResponseHeaderModification,HTTPRoutePathRedirect,GatewayHTTPListenerIsolation,GatewayInfrastructurePropagation,HTTPRouteRequestMirror,HTTPRouteRequestMultipleMirrors,HTTPRouteRequestPercentageMirror,HTTPRouteBackendProtocolWebSocket,HTTPRouteParentRefPort,HTTPRouteDestinationPortMatching
diff --git a/tests/framework/load.go b/tests/framework/load.go
index d6caf312b5..13400d2a56 100644
--- a/tests/framework/load.go
+++ b/tests/framework/load.go
@@ -64,10 +64,6 @@ func RunLoadTest(cfg LoadTestConfig) (vegeta.Results, Metrics) {
 		Transport: &http.Transport{
 			DialContext: func(ctx context.Context, network, _ string) (net.Conn, error) {
 				conn, err := dialer.DialContext(ctx, network, cfg.Proxy)
-				if err != nil {
-					GinkgoWriter.Printf("ERROR occurred during dialing %q in %q network, error: %s\n", cfg.Proxy, network, err)
-				}
-
 				return conn, err
 			},
 			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
diff --git a/tests/framework/resourcemanager.go b/tests/framework/resourcemanager.go
index f8bc54acaa..2382d17102 100644
--- a/tests/framework/resourcemanager.go
+++ b/tests/framework/resourcemanager.go
@@ -1251,7 +1251,8 @@ func (rm *ResourceManager) Get(
 ) error {
 	options := LogOptions(opts...)
 	if err := rm.K8sClient.Get(ctx, key, obj); err != nil {
-		if options.logEnabled {
+		// Don't log NotFound errors - they're often expected (e.g., when checking if resource was deleted)
+		if options.logEnabled && !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 			GinkgoWriter.Printf("Could not get k8s resource %q error: %v\n", obj.GetName(), err)
 		}