diff --git a/test/e2e/upgrade/alert/alert.go b/test/e2e/upgrade/alert/alert.go
index 800feb9505ce..3b277fdae692 100644
--- a/test/e2e/upgrade/alert/alert.go
+++ b/test/e2e/upgrade/alert/alert.go
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ const (
 	// Delay after upgrade is complete before checking for critical alerts
 	alertCheckSleepMinutes = 5
 	alertCheckSleep        = alertCheckSleepMinutes * time.Minute
-
-	// Previous period in which to check for critical alerts
-	alertPeriodCheckMinutes = 1
 )
 
 // UpgradeTest runs post-upgrade after alertCheckSleep delay and tests if any critical alerts are firing.
@@ -84,8 +81,11 @@ func (t *UpgradeTest) Test(f *framework.Framework, done <-chan struct{}, upgrade
 	// period by verifying Watchdog alert has been in firing state
 	watchdogQuery := fmt.Sprintf(`count_over_time(ALERTS{alertstate="firing",alertname="Watchdog", severity="none"}[%dm])`, alertCheckSleepMinutes)
 
+	// we only consider series sent since the beginning of the test
+	testDuration := exutil.DurationSinceStartInSeconds().String()
+
 	// Query to check for any critical severity alerts that have occurred within the last alertPeriodCheckMinutes.
-	criticalAlertQuery := fmt.Sprintf(`count_over_time(ALERTS{alertname!~"Watchdog|AlertmanagerReceiversNotConfigured|KubeAPILatencyHigh",alertstate="firing",severity="critical"}[%dm]) >= 1`, alertPeriodCheckMinutes)
+	criticalAlertQuery := fmt.Sprintf(`count_over_time(ALERTS{alertstate="firing",severity="critical"}[%ds]) >= 1`, testDuration)
 
 	tests := map[string]bool{
 		watchdogQuery:      true,
diff --git a/test/extended/prometheus/prometheus.go b/test/extended/prometheus/prometheus.go
index 2d6bda4966d7..b65b2fd7c74a 100644
--- a/test/extended/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/test/extended/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ var _ = g.Describe("[sig-instrumentation][Late] Alerts", func() {
 			// Checking Watchdog alert state is done in "should have a Watchdog alert in firing state".
 			// TODO: remove KubePodCrashLooping subtraction logic once https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1842002
 			// is fixed, but for now we are ignoring KubePodCrashLooping alerts in the openshift-kube-controller-manager namespace.
-			fmt.Sprintf(`count_over_time(ALERTS{alertname!~"Watchdog|AlertmanagerReceiversNotConfigured|KubeAPILatencyHigh",alertstate="firing",severity!="info"}[%[1]s]) - count_over_time(ALERTS{alertname="KubePodCrashLooping",namespace="openshift-kube-controller-manager",alertstate="firing",severity!="info"}[%[1]s]) >= 1`, testDuration): false,
+			fmt.Sprintf(`count_over_time(ALERTS{alertname!~"Watchdog|AlertmanagerReceiversNotConfigured",alertstate="firing",severity!="info"}[%[1]s]) - count_over_time(ALERTS{alertname="KubePodCrashLooping",namespace="openshift-kube-controller-manager",alertstate="firing",severity!="info"}[%[1]s]) >= 1`, testDuration): false,
 		}
 		err := helper.RunQueries(tests, oc, ns, execPod.Name, url, bearerToken)
 		o.Expect(err).NotTo(o.HaveOccurred())