diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-reusable-pipeline.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-reusable-pipeline.yml
index 3ef8769268..807066377a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-reusable-pipeline.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-reusable-pipeline.yml
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ jobs:
 
           for i in $(seq 1 $count); do
             nodes=$(kubectl get nodes -o name | wc -l)
-            actual=$(kubectl get nodenetworkinterfaces -o name 2>/dev/null | wc -l) || true
+            actual=$(kubectl get nodenetworkinterfaces -o json | jq -r '.items[] | select(.status.operationalState == "Up") | .metadata.name' | wc -l) || true
             expected=$((nodes * 2))
 
             echo "[INFO] Attempt $i/$count: expected=$expected, actual=$actual"
@@ -554,11 +554,11 @@ jobs:
               echo ::group::📝 [DEBUG] show namespaces d8-sdn
               kubectl -n d8-sdn get pods || true
               echo ::endgroup::
-              
+
               echo ::group::📝 [DEBUG] show nodenetworkinterfaces d8-sdn
               kubectl get nodenetworkinterfaces || true
               echo ::endgroup::
-              
+
               echo "[INFO] Retrying in 10 seconds..."
               sleep $wait_time_seconds
             elif [ $i -lt $count ]; then