diff --git a/operator/internal/testutils/setup_envtest.go b/operator/internal/testutils/setup_envtest.go
index f448e5c47..8ebb02c54 100644
--- a/operator/internal/testutils/setup_envtest.go
+++ b/operator/internal/testutils/setup_envtest.go
@@ -43,7 +43,18 @@ func (e *RedpandaTestEnv) StartRedpandaTestEnv(withWebhook bool) (*rest.Config,
 			Paths: []string{filepath.Join(configPath, "webhook")},
 		}
 	}
+
 	cfg, err := e.Start()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// Ideally we'd plumb in testing.T here to ensure that clean up is run.
+	// This seems to run ~80% of the time which is a dramatic improvement.
+	runtime.AddCleanup(cfg, func(e *RedpandaTestEnv) {
+		_ = e.Stop()
+	}, e)
+
 	return cfg, err
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kube/envexpander_test.go b/pkg/kube/envexpander_test.go
index 65d6f59d1..03a5d7bba 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/envexpander_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kube/envexpander_test.go
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ func TestEnvExpander(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg, err := env.Start()
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = env.Stop() })
+
 	c, err := client.New(cfg, client.Options{})
 	require.NoError(t, err)