diff --git a/e2e/smoke_test.go b/e2e/smoke_test.go
index 16e6b36bf..078a82583 100644
--- a/e2e/smoke_test.go
+++ b/e2e/smoke_test.go
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 			scenario,
 			sessionName,
 			tmpDir string
-			readyStatusFunc func(ns string) func() bool
 		)
 
 		JustBeforeEach(func() {
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 			}
 
 			InstallLocalOperator(namespace)
-			Eventually(readyStatusFunc(namespace), 2*time.Minute, 5*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
+			Eventually(AllDeploymentsAndPodsReady(namespace), 2*time.Minute, 5*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
 			DeployTestScenario(scenario, namespace)
 		})
 
@@ -67,13 +66,12 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 				BeforeEach(func() {
 					scenario = "scenario-1"
 					registry = GetDockerRegistryInternal()
-					readyStatusFunc = AllDeploymentsAndPodsReady
 				})
 
 				Context("basic deployment modifications", func() {
 
 					It("should watch for changes in ratings service and serve it", func() {
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 						EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace, ContainSubstring("ratings-v1"))
 
 						// given we have details code locally
@@ -89,7 +87,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 							"--session", sessionName,
 							"--namespace", namespace,
 						)
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 						EnsureSessionRouteIsReachable(namespace, sessionName, ContainSubstring("PublisherA"))
 
 						// then modify the service
@@ -106,7 +104,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 				Context("deployment create/delete operations", func() {
 
 					It("should watch for changes in ratings service and serve it", func() {
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 						EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace, ContainSubstring("ratings-v1"), Not(ContainSubstring(PreparedImageV1)))
 
 						ChangeNamespace("default")
@@ -122,7 +120,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 						Eventually(ike1.Done(), 1*time.Minute).Should(BeClosed())
 
 						// ensure the new service is running
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 
 						// check original response
 						EnsureSessionRouteIsReachable(namespace, sessionName, ContainSubstring(PreparedImageV1), Not(ContainSubstring("ratings-v1")))
@@ -168,12 +166,11 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 			Context("grpc protocol", func() {
 				BeforeEach(func() {
 					scenario = "scenario-1.1"
-					readyStatusFunc = AllDeploymentsAndPodsReady
 				})
 
 				Context("basic deployment modifications", func() {
 					It("should take over ratings service and serve it", func() {
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 						EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace, ContainSubstring("ratings-v1"))
 
 						ike := RunIke(testshell.GetProjectDir(), "develop",
@@ -185,7 +182,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 							"--session", sessionName,
 							"--namespace", namespace,
 						)
-						EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+						EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 
 						EnsureSessionRouteIsReachable(namespace, sessionName, ContainSubstring("PublisherA"), ContainSubstring("grpc"))
 
@@ -204,12 +201,11 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 						"Tests for regular k8s deployment can be found in the same test suite.")
 				}
 				scenario = "scenario-2"
-				readyStatusFunc = AllDeploymentConfigsAndPodsReady
 			})
 
 			It("should watch for changes in ratings service in specified namespace and serve it", func() {
 				ChangeNamespace(namespace)
-				EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+				EnsureAllDeploymentConfigPodsAreReady(namespace)
 				EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace, ContainSubstring("ratings-v1"))
 
 				// given we have details code locally
@@ -224,7 +220,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 					"--route", "header:x-test-suite=smoke",
 					"--session", sessionName,
 				)
-				EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+				EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 				EnsureSessionRouteIsReachable(namespace, sessionName, ContainSubstring("PublisherA"))
 
 				// then modify the service
@@ -246,7 +242,6 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 				tmpRemove = test.TemporaryEnvVars(
 					"IKE_SESSION", sessionName,
 					"IKE_ROUTE", "header:x-test-suite=smoke")
-				readyStatusFunc = AllDeploymentsAndPodsReady
 			})
 
 			AfterEach(func() {
@@ -255,7 +250,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 
 			It("should create session on deployment creation and remove on delete", func() {
 				ChangeNamespace(namespace)
-				EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace)
+				EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace)
 				EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace, ContainSubstring("ratings-v1"))
 
 				// given the mutation hook has kicked in
@@ -272,11 +267,16 @@ var _ = Describe("Smoke End To End Tests - against OpenShift Cluster with Istio
 	})
 })
 
-// EnsureAllPodsAreReady make sure all Pods are in Ready state in given namespace.
-func EnsureAllPodsAreReady(namespace string) {
+// EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady make sure all Pods are in Ready state in given namespace.
+func EnsureAllDeploymentPodsAreReady(namespace string) {
 	Eventually(AllDeploymentsAndPodsReady(namespace), 5*time.Minute, 5*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
 }
 
+// EnsureAllDeploymentConfigPodsAreReady make sure all Pods are in Ready state in given namespace.
+func EnsureAllDeploymentConfigPodsAreReady(namespace string) {
+	Eventually(AllDeploymentConfigsAndPodsReady(namespace), 5*time.Minute, 5*time.Second).Should(BeTrue())
+}
+
 // EnsureProdRouteIsReachable can be reached with no special arguments.
 func EnsureProdRouteIsReachable(namespace string, matchers ...types.GomegaMatcher) {
 	productPageURL := GetIstioIngressHostname() + "/test-service/productpage"
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 1f9fd089e..47435ebaa 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20201116194326-cc9327a14d48 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.3.4 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20201117152513-9036a0f9af11
+	gomodules.xyz/jsonpatch/v2 v2.0.1
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.27.0
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.23.0
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20200227125254-8fa46927fb4f // indirect