diff --git a/.github/workflows/go.yml b/.github/workflows/go.yml
index 0c70ca7d7d17..bd2a46905f1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go.yml
@@ -219,55 +219,14 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         version: ${{fromJson(needs.prepare.outputs.autopilot-matrix)}}
 
-    name: "Autopilot tests :: ${{ matrix.version }}"
+    name: "Autopilot test :: ${{ matrix.version }}"
     needs: [prepare, build-k0s]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-
-    env:
-      K0S_VERSION: ${{ matrix.version }}
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Check out code into the Go module directory
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Reclaim runner disk space
-        run: .github/workflows/reclaim-runner-disk-space.bash
-
-      - name: Prepare build environment
-        run: .github/workflows/prepare-build-env.sh
-
-      - name: Set up Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v3
-        with:
-          go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}
-
-      - name: Download compiled executable
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: k0s-linux-amd64
 
-      - name: Download latest release
-        run: |
-          curl -L -o "k0s-$K0S_VERSION" "https://github.com/k0sproject/k0s/releases/download/$K0S_VERSION/k0s-$K0S_VERSION-amd64"
-          chmod +x "k0s-$K0S_VERSION"
-
-      - name: k0s sysinfo
-        run: |
-          chmod +x k0s
-          ./k0s sysinfo
-
-      - name: Run inttest
-        run: |
-          make -C inttest check-ap-ha3x3 K0S_UPDATE_FROM_BIN="../k0s-$K0S_VERSION"
-
-      - name: Collect k0s logs and support bundle
-        if: failure()
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: autopilot-tests-${{ matrix.version }}-files
-          path: |
-            /tmp/*.log
-            /tmp/support-bundle.tar.gz
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/smoketest.yaml
+    with:
+      name: ap-ha3x3
+      job-name: autopilot-test
+      k0s-reference-version: ${{ matrix.version }}
 
   smoketest-arm:
     name: Smoke test on armv7/arm64
diff --git a/.github/workflows/smoketest.yaml b/.github/workflows/smoketest.yaml
index 602bebdab911..0ac22479691d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/smoketest.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/smoketest.yaml
@@ -10,13 +10,24 @@ on:
         type: string
         required: true
         description: The integration test name to be executed.
+      job-name:
+        type: string
+        default: smoketest
+        description: >-
+          The name to use for the test job.
+          Will be used as a prefix for artifact uploads.
+      k0s-reference-version:
+        type: string
+        description: >-
+          The k0s release version to be used as a reference.
+          Mostly used for Autopilot upgrade checks.
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
   smoketest:
-    name: Smoke test
+    name: ${{ inputs.job-name }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
 
     steps:
@@ -57,16 +68,28 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: airgap-image-bundle-linux-amd64
 
+      - name: Download k0s reference release
+        id: download-k0s-reference-release
+        if: inputs.k0s-reference-version != ''
+        env:
+          K0S_VERSION: ${{ inputs.k0s-reference-version }}
+        run: |
+          curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSLo "k0s-$K0S_VERSION" --retry 5 --retry-all-errors "https://github.com/k0sproject/k0s/releases/download/$K0S_VERSION/k0s-$K0S_VERSION-amd64"
+          chmod +x "k0s-$K0S_VERSION"
+          k0sRealPath="$(realpath "k0s-$K0S_VERSION")"
+          echo "path=$k0sRealPath" >>$GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
       - name: Run inttest
         env:
           SMOKETEST_NAME: check-${{ inputs.name }}
+          K0S_UPDATE_FROM_PATH: ${{ steps.download-k0s-reference-release.outputs.path }}
         run: make -C inttest "$SMOKETEST_NAME"
 
       - name: Collect k0s logs, support bundle and conformance test results
         if: failure()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: smoketest-${{ inputs.name }}-files
+          name: ${{ inputs.job-name }}-${{ inputs.name }}-files
           path: |
             /tmp/*.log
             /tmp/support-bundle.tar.gz