diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6460c6df86e5..ec7877950685 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -591,6 +591,7 @@ generate-e2e-templates-main: $(KUSTOMIZE)
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv6-primary --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv6-primary.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv4-primary --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv4-primary.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-in-place --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-in-place.yaml
+	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-no-workers --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-no-workers.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-runtimesdk-v1beta1 --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-runtimesdk-v1beta1.yaml
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-kcp-only --load-restrictor LoadRestrictionsNone > $(DOCKER_TEMPLATES)/main/cluster-template-topology-kcp-only.yaml
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
index 6e5fd7abf385..73facf63a13a 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ providers:
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv6-primary.yaml"
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-dualstack-ipv4-primary.yaml"
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-in-place.yaml"
+    - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp.yaml"
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-workers.yaml"
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-runtimesdk-v1beta1.yaml"
     - sourcePath: "../data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-kcp-only.yaml"
diff --git a/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/kustomization.yaml b/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..37c674ac6c02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+resources:
+  - ../bases/cluster-with-topology.yaml
+  - ../bases/crs.yaml
+
+patches:
+- path: remove-topology-workers-mp.yaml
+  target:
+    group: cluster.x-k8s.io
+    version: v1beta2
+    kind: Cluster
diff --git a/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/remove-topology-workers-mp.yaml b/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/remove-topology-workers-mp.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ba264f51fac1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-docker/main/cluster-template-topology-no-mp/remove-topology-workers-mp.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+- op: remove
+  path: /spec/topology/workers/machinePools
diff --git a/test/e2e/self_hosted_test.go b/test/e2e/self_hosted_test.go
index d301e62cfdbc..75915cdcc133 100644
--- a/test/e2e/self_hosted_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/self_hosted_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ var _ = Describe("When testing Cluster API working on self-hosted clusters using
 			BootstrapClusterProxy:    bootstrapClusterProxy,
 			ArtifactFolder:           artifactFolder,
 			SkipCleanup:              skipCleanup,
-			Flavor:                   "topology",
+			Flavor:                   "topology-no-mp",
 			ControlPlaneMachineCount: ptr.To[int64](1),
 			WorkerMachineCount:       ptr.To[int64](1),
 		}
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ var _ = Describe("When testing Cluster API working on self-hosted clusters using
 			BootstrapClusterProxy:    bootstrapClusterProxy,
 			ArtifactFolder:           artifactFolder,
 			SkipCleanup:              skipCleanup,
-			Flavor:                   "topology",
+			Flavor:                   "topology-no-mp",
 			ControlPlaneMachineCount: ptr.To[int64](3),
 			WorkerMachineCount:       ptr.To[int64](1),
 		}