diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/conftest.py b/tests/integration/tests/conftest.py
index 53a6055b4..e713ecf8a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/conftest.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 import logging
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Generator, List
+from typing import Generator, List, Union
 
 import pytest
 from test_util import config, harness, util
@@ -49,9 +49,11 @@ def h() -> harness.Harness:
 def pytest_configure(config):
     config.addinivalue_line(
         "markers",
-        "node_count: Mark a test to specify how many instance nodes need to be created\n"
+        "bootstrap_config: Provide a custom bootstrap config to the bootstrapping node.\n"
         "disable_k8s_bootstrapping: By default, the first k8s node is bootstrapped. This marker disables that.\n"
-        "etcd_count: Mark a test to specify how many etcd instance nodes need to be created (None by default)\n",
+        "dualstack: Support dualstack on the instances.\n"
+        "etcd_count: Mark a test to specify how many etcd instance nodes need to be created (None by default)\n"
+        "node_count: Mark a test to specify how many instance nodes need to be created\n",
     )
 
 
@@ -65,13 +67,32 @@ def node_count(request) -> int:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-def disable_k8s_bootstrapping(request) -> int:
+def disable_k8s_bootstrapping(request) -> bool:
     return bool(request.node.get_closest_marker("disable_k8s_bootstrapping"))
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+def bootstrap_config(request) -> Union[str, None]:
+    bootstrap_config_marker = request.node.get_closest_marker("bootstrap_config")
+    if not bootstrap_config_marker:
+        return None
+    config, *_ = bootstrap_config_marker.args
+    return config
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function")
+def dualstack(request) -> bool:
+    return bool(request.node.get_closest_marker("dualstack"))
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
 def instances(
-    h: harness.Harness, node_count: int, tmp_path: Path, disable_k8s_bootstrapping: bool
+    h: harness.Harness,
+    node_count: int,
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    disable_k8s_bootstrapping: bool,
+    bootstrap_config: Union[str, None],
+    dualstack: bool,
 ) -> Generator[List[harness.Instance], None, None]:
     """Construct instances for a cluster.
 
@@ -90,13 +111,20 @@ def instances(
 
     for _ in range(node_count):
         # Create <node_count> instances and setup the k8s snap in each.
-        instance = h.new_instance()
+        instance = h.new_instance(dualstack=dualstack)
         instances.append(instance)
         util.setup_k8s_snap(instance, snap_path)
 
     if not disable_k8s_bootstrapping:
         first_node, *_ = instances
-        first_node.exec(["k8s", "bootstrap"])
+
+        if bootstrap_config is not None:
+            first_node.exec(
+                ["k8s", "bootstrap", "--file", "-"],
+                input=str.encode(bootstrap_config),
+            )
+        else:
+            first_node.exec(["k8s", "bootstrap"])
 
     yield instances
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_control_plane_taints.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_control_plane_taints.py
index 38d3caf02..51b97e51f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_control_plane_taints.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_control_plane_taints.py
@@ -6,28 +6,19 @@
 from typing import List
 
 import pytest
-import yaml
 from test_util import harness, util
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.node_count(1)
-@pytest.mark.disable_k8s_bootstrapping()
+@pytest.mark.bootstrap_config(
+    'control-plane-taints: ["node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane:NoSchedule"]'
+)
 def test_control_plane_taints(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
     k8s_instance = instances[0]
-
-    bootstrap_conf = yaml.safe_dump(
-        {"control-plane-taints": ["node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane:NoSchedule"]}
-    )
-
-    k8s_instance.exec(
-        ["dd", "of=/root/config.yaml"],
-        input=str.encode(bootstrap_conf),
-    )
-
-    k8s_instance.exec(["k8s", "bootstrap", "--file", "/root/config.yaml"])
     retries = 10
+
     while retries and not (nodes := util.get_nodes(k8s_instance)):
         LOG.info("Waiting for Nodes")
         time.sleep(3)
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_dualstack.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_dualstack.py
index cc6003cf2..53d586504 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_dualstack.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_dualstack.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 import logging
 from ipaddress import IPv4Address, IPv6Address, ip_address
-from pathlib import Path
+from typing import List
 
 import pytest
 from test_util import config, harness, util
@@ -12,19 +12,12 @@
 
 
 @pytest.mark.node_count(1)
-def test_dualstack(h: harness.Harness, tmp_path: Path):
-    snap_path = (tmp_path / "k8s.snap").as_posix()
-    main = h.new_instance(dualstack=True)
-    util.setup_k8s_snap(main, snap_path)
-
-    bootstrap_config = (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "bootstrap-dualstack.yaml").read_text()
-
-    main.exec(
-        ["k8s", "bootstrap", "--file", "-"],
-        input=str.encode(bootstrap_config),
-    )
-    util.wait_until_k8s_ready(main, [main])
-
+@pytest.mark.bootstrap_config(
+    (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "bootstrap-dualstack.yaml").read_text()
+)
+@pytest.mark.dualstack()
+def test_dualstack(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
+    main = instances[0]
     dualstack_config = (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "nginx-dualstack.yaml").read_text()
 
     # Deploy nginx with dualstack service
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_smoke.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_smoke.py
index e66994048..afafe2001 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_smoke.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_smoke.py
@@ -8,25 +8,18 @@
 from typing import List
 
 import pytest
-from test_util import config, harness, util
+from test_util import config, harness
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.node_count(1)
-@pytest.mark.disable_k8s_bootstrapping()
+@pytest.mark.bootstrap_config(
+    (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "bootstrap-smoke.yaml").read_text()
+)
 def test_smoke(instances: List[harness.Instance]):
     instance = instances[0]
 
-    bootstrap_smoke_config_path = "/home/ubuntu/bootstrap-smoke.yaml"
-    instance.send_file(
-        (config.MANIFESTS_DIR / "bootstrap-smoke.yaml").as_posix(),
-        bootstrap_smoke_config_path,
-    )
-
-    instance.exec(["k8s", "bootstrap", "--file", bootstrap_smoke_config_path])
-    util.wait_until_k8s_ready(instance, [instance])
-
     # Verify the functionality of the k8s config command during the smoke test.
     # It would be excessive to deploy a cluster solely for this purpose.
     result = instance.exec(
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/test_util/util.py b/tests/integration/tests/test_util/util.py
index 33f4c5087..0df7d8045 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/test_util/util.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/test_util/util.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def setup_k8s_snap(instance: harness.Instance, snap_path: Path):
 def wait_until_k8s_ready(
     control_node: harness.Instance,
     instances: List[harness.Instance],
-    retries: int = 15,
+    retries: int = 30,
     delay_s: int = 5,
 ):
     """