diff --git a/aimmo_runner/runner.py b/aimmo_runner/runner.py
index 3f7ee19a2..165264e4f 100644
--- a/aimmo_runner/runner.py
+++ b/aimmo_runner/runner.py
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ def run(
 
     if using_cypress:
         settings.DEBUG = False
-        os.environ["RUNNING_TESTS"] = "True"
+        os.environ["LOAD_KUBE_CONFIG"] = "0"
+
     os.environ["NODE_ENV"] = "development" if settings.DEBUG else "production"
 
     build_frontend(using_cypress, capture_output)
diff --git a/example_project/manage.py b/example_project/manage.py
index 79b34c600..562fa229c 100755
--- a/example_project/manage.py
+++ b/example_project/manage.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
+from kubernetes.config import load_kube_config
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "example_project.settings")
 
@@ -11,4 +13,7 @@
 
     logging.basicConfig()
 
+    if os.environ.get("LOAD_KUBE_CONFIG", "1") == "1":
+        load_kube_config(context="agones")
+
     execute_from_command_line(sys.argv)