diff --git a/test/e2e-tests.sh b/test/e2e-tests.sh
index 6230fa9a9999..c9aebe325286 100755
--- a/test/e2e-tests.sh
+++ b/test/e2e-tests.sh
@@ -91,16 +91,14 @@ kubectl -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" patch configmap/config-leader-election --type=m
 add_trap "kubectl get cm config-leader-election -n ${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE} -oyaml | sed '/.*enabledComponents.*/d' | kubectl replace -f -" SIGKILL SIGTERM SIGQUIT
 
 # Save activator HPA original values for later use.
-min_replicas=$(kubectl get hpa activator -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" -ojsonpath='{.spec.minReplicas}')
-max_replicas=$(kubectl get hpa activator -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" -ojsonpath='{.spec.maxReplicas}')
-hpa_template='{"spec": {"maxReplicas": %s, "minReplicas": %s}}'
+hpa_spec=$(echo '{"spec": {'$(kubectl get hpa activator -n "knative-serving" -ojsonpath='"minReplicas": {.spec.minReplicas}, "maxReplicas": {.spec.maxReplicas}')'}}')
 
 kubectl patch hpa activator -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" \
   --type "merge" \
-  --patch "$(printf "$hpa_template" "2" "2")" || failed=1
+  --patch '{"spec": {"minReplicas": 2, "maxReplicas": 2}}' || failed=1
 add_trap "kubectl patch hpa activator -n ${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE} \
   --type 'merge' \
-  --patch $(printf "$hpa_template" "$max_replicas" "$min_replicas")" SIGKILL SIGTERM SIGQUIT
+  --patch $hpa_spec" SIGKILL SIGTERM SIGQUIT
 
 for deployment in controller autoscaler-hpa webhook; do
   # Make sure all pods run in leader-elected mode.
@@ -170,15 +168,6 @@ fi
 # Define short -spoofinterval to ensure frequent probing while stopping pods
 go_test_e2e -timeout=15m -failfast -parallel=1 ./test/ha -spoofinterval="10ms" || failed=1
 
-kubectl get cm config-leader-election -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" -oyaml | sed '/.*enabledComponents.*/d' | kubectl replace -f -
-for deployment in controller autoscaler-hpa; do
-  kubectl -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" scale deployment "$deployment" --replicas=0
-  kubectl -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" scale deployment "$deployment" --replicas=1
-done
-kubectl patch hpa activator -n "${SYSTEM_NAMESPACE}" \
-  --type "merge" \
-  --patch "$(printf "$hpa_template" "2" "2")"
-
 # Dump cluster state in case of failure
 (( failed )) && dump_cluster_state
 (( failed )) && fail_test