diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/common.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/common.go
index e77a339c3f..9075d99bb6 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/common.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/common.go
@@ -152,9 +152,9 @@ func stateStore(cloudProvider string) string {
 	if ss == "" {
 		switch cloudProvider {
 		case "aws":
-			ss = "s3://k8s-kops-prow/"
+			ss = "s3://k8s-kops-prow"
 		case "gce":
-			ss = "gs://k8s-kops-gce/"
+			ss = "gs://k8s-kops-gce"
 		}
 	}
 	return ss
diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/replace.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/create.go
similarity index 73%
rename from tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/replace.go
rename to tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/create.go
index b5911e1696..328bd111fc 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/replace.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/create.go
@@ -23,12 +23,11 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kubetest2/pkg/exec"
 )
 
-// replace performs a `kops replace` followed by `kops update cluster --yes`
+// create performs a `kops create -f` followed by `kops update cluster --yes`
 func (d *deployer) replace() error {
 	args := []string{
-		d.KopsBinaryPath, "replace",
+		d.KopsBinaryPath, "create",
 		"--filename", d.manifestPath,
-		"--force",
 		"--name", d.ClusterName,
 	}
 	klog.Info(strings.Join(args, " "))
@@ -42,22 +41,6 @@ func (d *deployer) replace() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	args = []string{
-		d.KopsBinaryPath, "create", "secret", "sshpublickey",
-		"admin",
-		"-i", d.SSHPublicKeyPath,
-		"--name", d.ClusterName,
-	}
-	klog.Info(strings.Join(args, " "))
-	cmd = exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
-	cmd.SetEnv(d.env()...)
-
-	exec.InheritOutput(cmd)
-	err = cmd.Run()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	args = []string{
 		d.KopsBinaryPath, "update", "cluster", "--yes",
 		"--name", d.ClusterName,
diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/template.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/template.go
index e96c9dde6a..38dd9b9296 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/template.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/template.go
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ func (d *deployer) renderTemplate(values map[string]interface{}) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (d *deployer) templateValues(zones []string, publicIP string) map[string]interface{} {
+func (d *deployer) templateValues(zones []string, publicIP string) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	publicKey, err := ioutil.ReadFile(d.SSHPublicKeyPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return map[string]interface{}{
 		"cloudProvider":     d.CloudProvider,
 		"clusterName":       d.ClusterName,
@@ -71,5 +75,6 @@ func (d *deployer) templateValues(zones []string, publicIP string) map[string]in
 		"publicIP":          publicIP,
 		"stateStore":        d.StateStore,
 		"zones":             zones,
-	}
+		"sshPublicKey":      string(publicKey),
+	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
index 9323283ce4..7b5ad759b3 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ func (d *deployer) Up() error {
 	}
 
 	if d.TemplatePath != "" {
-		values := d.templateValues(zones, adminAccess)
+		values, err := d.templateValues(zones, adminAccess)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		if err := d.renderTemplate(values); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/templates/simple.yaml.tmpl b/tests/e2e/templates/simple.yaml.tmpl
index 4dc0c27933..673f5b4eb8 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/templates/simple.yaml.tmpl
+++ b/tests/e2e/templates/simple.yaml.tmpl
@@ -43,6 +43,17 @@ spec:
 
 ---
 
+apiVersion: kops.k8s.io/v1alpha2
+kind: SSHCredential
+metadata:
+  name: admin
+  labels:
+    kops.k8s.io/cluster: {{.clusterName}}
+spec:
+  publicKey: {{.sshPublicKey}}
+
+---
+
 apiVersion: kops.k8s.io/v1alpha2
 kind: InstanceGroup
 metadata: