diff --git a/e2e/ctl_v3_auth_test.go b/e2e/ctl_v3_auth_test.go
index dee88c14bb4..9c3649d47a3 100644
--- a/e2e/ctl_v3_auth_test.go
+++ b/e2e/ctl_v3_auth_test.go
@@ -487,17 +487,17 @@ func authTestMemberRemove(cx ctlCtx) {
 	cx.user, cx.pass = "root", "root"
 	authSetupTestUser(cx)
 
-	memIDToRemove, clusterID := cx.memberToRemove()
+	ep, memIDToRemove, clusterID := cx.memberToRemove()
 
 	// ordinal user cannot remove a member
 	cx.user, cx.pass = "test-user", "pass"
-	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err == nil {
+	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, ep, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err == nil {
 		cx.t.Fatalf("ordinal user must not be allowed to remove a member")
 	}
 
 	// root can remove a member
 	cx.user, cx.pass = "root", "root"
-	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err != nil {
+	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, ep, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err != nil {
 		cx.t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/e2e/ctl_v3_member_test.go b/e2e/ctl_v3_member_test.go
index 4ddc0c4fa13..dfd3f799ac1 100644
--- a/e2e/ctl_v3_member_test.go
+++ b/e2e/ctl_v3_member_test.go
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ func getMemberList(cx ctlCtx) (etcdserverpb.MemberListResponse, error) {
 }
 
 func memberRemoveTest(cx ctlCtx) {
-	memIDToRemove, clusterID := cx.memberToRemove()
-	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err != nil {
+	ep, memIDToRemove, clusterID := cx.memberToRemove()
+	if err := ctlV3MemberRemove(cx, ep, memIDToRemove, clusterID); err != nil {
 		cx.t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
 
-func ctlV3MemberRemove(cx ctlCtx, memberID, clusterID string) error {
-	cmdArgs := append(cx.PrefixArgs(), "member", "remove", memberID)
+func ctlV3MemberRemove(cx ctlCtx, ep, memberID, clusterID string) error {
+	cmdArgs := append(cx.prefixArgs([]string{ep}), "member", "remove", memberID)
 	return spawnWithExpect(cmdArgs, fmt.Sprintf("%s removed from cluster %s", memberID, clusterID))
 }
 
diff --git a/e2e/ctl_v3_test.go b/e2e/ctl_v3_test.go
index 2165c819fd5..a4eab968228 100644
--- a/e2e/ctl_v3_test.go
+++ b/e2e/ctl_v3_test.go
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ func isGRPCTimedout(err error) bool {
 	return strings.Contains(err.Error(), "grpc: timed out trying to connect")
 }
 
-func (cx *ctlCtx) memberToRemove() (memberID string, clusterID string) {
+func (cx *ctlCtx) memberToRemove() (ep string, memberID string, clusterID string) {
 	n1 := cx.cfg.clusterSize
 	if n1 < 2 {
 		cx.t.Fatalf("%d-node is too small to test 'member remove'", n1)
@@ -229,15 +229,9 @@ func (cx *ctlCtx) memberToRemove() (memberID string, clusterID string) {
 		cx.t.Fatalf("expected %d, got %d", n1, len(resp.Members))
 	}
 
+	ep = resp.Members[0].ClientURLs[0]
 	clusterID = fmt.Sprintf("%x", resp.Header.ClusterId)
+	memberID = fmt.Sprintf("%x", resp.Members[1].ID)
 
-	// remove one member that is not the one we connected to.
-	for _, m := range resp.Members {
-		if m.ID != resp.Header.MemberId {
-			memberID = fmt.Sprintf("%x", m.ID)
-			break
-		}
-	}
-
-	return memberID, clusterID
+	return ep, memberID, clusterID
 }