diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 49742ad527..3b0e7ad854 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# TODO: right now the release is not fully automated, but the tests below must pass before a release is made manually. See RELEASE.md for more information.
 name: release
 
 on:
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@ on:
       - 'next'
 
 jobs:
-  latest-tests:
+  test-current-kubernetes:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
@@ -38,13 +39,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Kubernetes ${{ matrix.kubernetes_version }} ${{ matrix.dbmode }} Integration Tests
         run: KONG_CLUSTER_VERSION=${{ matrix.kubernetes_version }} make test.integration.${{ matrix.dbmode }}
 
-  legacy-tests:
+  test-previous-kubernetes:
+    environment: gcloud
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        kubernetes-version:
-          - 'v1.19.11'
-          - 'v1.20.7'
+        minor:
+          - '19'
+          - '20'
         dbmode:
           - 'dbless'
           - 'postgres'
@@ -67,7 +69,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Kubernetes ${{ matrix.kubernetes_version }} ${{ matrix.dbmode }} Integration Tests
-        run: KONG_CLUSTER_VERSION=${{ matrix.kubernetes_version }} make test.integration.${{ matrix.dbmode }}
+      - name: test ${{ matrix.dbmode }} on GKE v1.${{ matrix.minor }}
+        run: ./hack/e2e/run.sh
+        env:
+          KUBERNETES_MAJOR_VERSION: 1
+          KUBERNETES_MINOR_VERSION: ${{ matrix.minor }}
+          GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS }}
+          GOOGLE_PROJECT: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_PROJECT }}
+          GOOGLE_LOCATION: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_LOCATION }}
 
-  # TODO: right now the release is not fully automated, but the above tests must pass before a release is made manually. See RELEASE.md for more information.
+# TODO: need kubernetes latest job (test against v1.20.7 and v1.21.2): https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/issues/1616
diff --git a/hack/e2e/main.go b/hack/e2e/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..da47f5bb45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/e2e/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+package main
+
+// TODO: this is temporary: it was created for speed but will be replaced
+//       by upstream functionality in KTF.
+//       See: https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-testing-framework/issues/61
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/kong/kubernetes-testing-framework/pkg/clusters"
+	"github.com/kong/kubernetes-testing-framework/pkg/clusters/types/gke"
+)
+
+const (
+	k8sNameVar  = "KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME"
+	k8sMajorVar = "KUBERNETES_MAJOR_VERSION"
+	k8sMinorVar = "KUBERNETES_MINOR_VERSION"
+)
+
+var (
+	ctx     = context.Background()
+	cluster clusters.Cluster
+
+	gkeCreds    = os.Getenv(gke.GKECredsVar)
+	gkeProject  = os.Getenv(gke.GKEProjectVar)
+	gkeLocation = os.Getenv(gke.GKELocationVar)
+	k8sName     = os.Getenv(k8sNameVar)
+	k8sMajor    = os.Getenv(k8sMajorVar)
+	k8sMinor    = os.Getenv(k8sMinorVar)
+)
+
+func main() {
+	fmt.Println("INFO: configuring GKE cloud environment for tests")
+	mustNotBeEmpty(gke.GKECredsVar, gkeCreds)
+	mustNotBeEmpty(gke.GKEProjectVar, gkeProject)
+	mustNotBeEmpty(gke.GKELocationVar, gkeLocation)
+	mustNotBeEmpty(k8sNameVar, k8sName)
+	mustNotBeEmpty(k8sMajorVar, k8sMajor)
+	mustNotBeEmpty(k8sMinorVar, k8sMinor)
+
+	fmt.Println("INFO: validating cluster version requirements")
+	major, err := strconv.Atoi(k8sMajor)
+	mustNotError(err)
+	minor, err := strconv.Atoi(k8sMinor)
+	mustNotError(err)
+
+	if len(os.Args) > 1 && os.Args[1] == "cleanup" {
+		fmt.Printf("INFO: cleanup called, deleting GKE cluster %s\n", k8sName)
+		cluster, err := gke.NewFromExistingWithEnv(ctx, k8sName)
+		mustNotError(err)
+		mustNotError(cluster.Cleanup(ctx))
+		fmt.Printf("INFO: GKE cluster %s successfully cleaned up\n", k8sName)
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
+	fmt.Printf("INFO: configuring the GKE cluster NAME=(%s) VERSION=(v%d.%d) PROJECT=(%s) LOCATION=(%s)\n", k8sName, major, minor, gkeProject, gkeLocation)
+	builder := gke.NewBuilder([]byte(gkeCreds), gkeProject, gkeLocation).WithName(k8sName)
+	builder.WithClusterMinorVersion(uint64(major), uint64(minor))
+
+	fmt.Printf("INFO: building cluster %s (this can take some time)\n", builder.Name)
+	cluster, err = builder.Build(ctx)
+	mustNotError(err)
+
+	fmt.Println("INFO: verifying that the cluster can be communicated with")
+	version, err := cluster.Client().ServerVersion()
+	mustNotError(err)
+
+	fmt.Printf("INFO: server version found: %s\n", version)
+}
+
+func mustNotBeEmpty(name, value string) {
+	if value == "" {
+		if cluster != nil {
+			if err := cluster.Cleanup(ctx); err != nil {
+				panic(fmt.Sprintf("%s was empty, and then cleanup failed: %s", name, err))
+			}
+		}
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("%s was empty", name))
+	}
+}
+
+func mustNotError(err error) {
+	if err != nil {
+		if cluster != nil {
+			if cleanupErr := cluster.Cleanup(ctx); cleanupErr != nil {
+				panic(fmt.Sprintf("deployment failed with %s, and then cleanup failed: %s", err, cleanupErr))
+			}
+		}
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("failed to deploy e2e environment: %w", err))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/hack/e2e/run.sh b/hack/e2e/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5ddb63702a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/e2e/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# TODO: for now our e2e tests are effectively just our integration tests run
+#       against a conformant, production grade cluster. In the future we will
+#       add a dedicated e2e test suite.
+#
+#       See: https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/issues/1605
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+WORKDIR="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/../.."
+cd "${WORKDIR}"
+
+CLUSTER_NAME="e2e-$(uuidgen)"
+KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME="${CLUSTER_NAME}" go run hack/e2e/main.go
+
+function cleanup() {
+    KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME="${CLUSTER_NAME}" go run hack/e2e/main.go cleanup
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT SIGINT SIGQUIT
+
+GOFLAGS="-tags=integration_tests" KONG_TEST_CLUSTER="gke:${CLUSTER_NAME}" go test -count 1 -timeout 45m -v ./test/integration/...