diff --git a/test/e2e/fixtures/docker-probe.ts b/test/e2e/fixtures/docker-probe.ts
index f3356e49ad9..66df9b60367 100644
--- a/test/e2e/fixtures/docker-probe.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/fixtures/docker-probe.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 import {
-  spawnSync,
   type SpawnSyncOptionsWithStringEncoding,
   type SpawnSyncReturns,
+  spawnSync,
 } from "node:child_process";
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import os from "node:os";
@@ -149,3 +149,29 @@ export class DockerProbe {
     return result;
   }
 }
+
+export class DockerPrerequisite {
+  constructor(
+    private readonly probe: DockerProbe,
+    private readonly skip: (reason: string) => never,
+    private readonly isCi = process.env.CI === "true" || process.env.GITHUB_ACTIONS === "true",
+  ) {}
+
+  probeDocker(): Promise<DockerCommandResult> {
+    return this.probe.run(["info"], { artifactName: "docker-info" });
+  }
+
+  async requireDocker(): Promise<DockerCommandResult> {
+    const result = await this.probeDocker();
+    if (result.exitCode === 0) return result;
+    const message = `Docker is required for this live E2E target:\n${resultText(result)}`;
+    if (this.isCi) throw new Error(message);
+    return this.skip(message);
+  }
+
+  async expectMissingDocker(): Promise<DockerCommandResult> {
+    const result = await this.probeDocker();
+    if (result.exitCode !== 0) return result;
+    throw new Error("Docker was expected to be unavailable for this E2E target");
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/e2e/fixtures/e2e-test.ts b/test/e2e/fixtures/e2e-test.ts
index 0ebd05b425c..0fa65bd87ef 100644
--- a/test/e2e/fixtures/e2e-test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/fixtures/e2e-test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   SandboxClient,
   StateClient,
 } from "./clients/index.ts";
+import { DockerPrerequisite, DockerProbe } from "./docker-probe.ts";
 import {
   EnvironmentPhaseFixture,
   LifecyclePhaseFixture,
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ export interface E2ETargetFixtures {
   artifacts: ArtifactSink;
   cleanup: CleanupRegistry;
   secrets: SecretStore;
+  docker: DockerPrerequisite;
   shellProbe: ShellProbe;
   host: HostCliClient;
   gateway: GatewayClient;
@@ -55,6 +57,10 @@ export const test = base.extend<E2ETargetFixtures>({
       });
     }
   },
+  docker: async ({ artifacts, secrets, skip }, use) => {
+    const probe = new DockerProbe(artifacts, (text, extra) => secrets.redact(text, extra));
+    await use(new DockerPrerequisite(probe, skip));
+  },
   cleanup: async ({ artifacts, secrets }, use) => {
     const cleanup = new CleanupRegistry((text) => secrets.redact(text));
     try {
diff --git a/test/e2e/live/sandbox-operations.test.ts b/test/e2e/live/sandbox-operations.test.ts
index d0472fa7657..8ae78216f36 100644
--- a/test/e2e/live/sandbox-operations.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/live/sandbox-operations.test.ts
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ async function assertGatewayRecovery(
 
 liveTest(
   "sandbox operations preserve list/status/logs/recovery/multi-sandbox contracts",
-  async ({ artifacts, cleanup, environment, host, sandbox, secrets, skip }) => {
+  async ({ artifacts, cleanup, docker, environment, host, sandbox, secrets }) => {
     const hosted = requireHostedInferenceConfig(secrets);
 
     await artifacts.writeJson("target.json", {
@@ -625,17 +625,7 @@ liveTest(
       ],
     });
 
-    const docker = await host.command("docker", ["info"], {
-      artifactName: "prereq-docker-info-sandbox-operations",
-      env: buildAvailabilityProbeEnv(),
-      timeoutMs: 30_000,
-    });
-    if (docker.exitCode !== 0) {
-      if (process.env.GITHUB_ACTIONS === "true") {
-        throw new Error(`Docker is required for sandbox operations E2E: ${resultText(docker)}`);
-      }
-      skip("Docker is required for sandbox operations E2E");
-    }
+    await docker.requireDocker();
 
     await environment.assertReady(ENVIRONMENT);
     cleanup.add("remove shared NemoClaw gateway registration", () =>
diff --git a/test/e2e/support/e2e-docker-prerequisite.test.ts b/test/e2e/support/e2e-docker-prerequisite.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..050ceb59179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/support/e2e-docker-prerequisite.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { ArtifactSink } from "../fixtures/artifacts.ts";
+import { DockerPrerequisite, DockerProbe } from "../fixtures/docker-probe.ts";
+
+function prerequisite(
+  exitCode: number,
+  isCi: boolean,
+  skip = vi.fn((): never => {
+    throw new Error("skipped");
+  }),
+) {
+  const root = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-docker-prerequisite-"));
+  const probe = new DockerProbe(
+    new ArtifactSink(root),
+    (text) => text,
+    () => ({
+      pid: 1,
+      output: [null, "", exitCode === 0 ? "" : "daemon unavailable"],
+      stdout: "",
+      stderr: exitCode === 0 ? "" : "daemon unavailable",
+      status: exitCode,
+      signal: null,
+    }),
+  );
+  return { docker: new DockerPrerequisite(probe, skip, isCi), root, skip };
+}
+
+describe("Docker prerequisite", () => {
+  it("returns available and optional probe results with artifacts", async () => {
+    const { docker, root } = prerequisite(0, false);
+    try {
+      expect((await docker.probeDocker()).exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect((await docker.requireDocker()).exitCode).toBe(0);
+      expect(fs.readdirSync(path.join(root, "docker")).length).toBe(6);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("skips locally but fails in CI when Docker is required", async () => {
+    const local = prerequisite(1, false);
+    const ci = prerequisite(1, true);
+    try {
+      await expect(local.docker.requireDocker()).rejects.toThrow("skipped");
+      expect(local.skip).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining("Docker is required"));
+      await expect(ci.docker.requireDocker()).rejects.toThrow(/daemon unavailable/);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(local.root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      fs.rmSync(ci.root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("supports intentionally missing Docker", async () => {
+    const missing = prerequisite(1, false);
+    const available = prerequisite(0, false);
+    try {
+      expect((await missing.docker.expectMissingDocker()).exitCode).toBe(1);
+      await expect(available.docker.expectMissingDocker()).rejects.toThrow(
+        /expected to be unavailable/,
+      );
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(missing.root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      fs.rmSync(available.root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});