diff --git a/test/helm_task_test.go b/test/helm_task_test.go
index 2fcc925228a..1e1c8411a76 100644
--- a/test/helm_task_test.go
+++ b/test/helm_task_test.go
@@ -41,10 +41,19 @@ var (
 // TestHelmDeployPipelineRun is an integration test that will verify a pipeline build an image
 // and then using helm to deploy it
 func TestHelmDeployPipelineRun(t *testing.T) {
-	repo := ensureDockerRepo(t)
+
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	defer cancel()
+
+	repo, err := getDockerRepo("helmtasktest")
+	if err != nil {
+		// No KO_DOCKER_REPO set, this test cannot run, let's skip it
+		// We cannot use the sidecar registry (as it is today) because
+		// the kubelet won't pull images from an insecure registry
+		t.Skip("KO_DOCKER_REPO env variable is required")
+	}
+
 	c, namespace := setup(ctx, t)
 	setupClusterBindingForHelm(ctx, c, t, namespace)
 
diff --git a/test/kaniko_task_test.go b/test/kaniko_task_test.go
index bc17c1a5650..5fe2a37c789 100644
--- a/test/kaniko_task_test.go
+++ b/test/kaniko_task_test.go
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ const (
 
 // TestTaskRun is an integration test that will verify a TaskRun using kaniko
 func TestKanikoTaskRun(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		namespace, repo string
+		c               *clients
+	)
+
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	defer cancel()
@@ -53,11 +58,16 @@ func TestKanikoTaskRun(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skip("Skip test as skipRootUserTests set to true")
 	}
 
-	c, namespace := setup(ctx, t, withRegistry)
+	repo, err := getDockerRepo("kanikotasktest")
+	if err != nil {
+		// No KO_DOCKER_REPO set, use a sidecar registry instead
+		c, namespace = setup(ctx, t, withRegistry)
+		repo = fmt.Sprintf("registry.%s.svc.cluster.local:5000/kanikotasktest", namespace)
+	} else {
+		c, namespace = setup(ctx, t)
+	}
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	repo := fmt.Sprintf("registry.%s:5000/kanikotasktest", namespace)
-
 	knativetest.CleanupOnInterrupt(func() { tearDown(ctx, t, c, namespace) }, t.Logf)
 	defer tearDown(ctx, t, c, namespace)
 
@@ -159,7 +169,7 @@ spec:
 }
 
 func getTask(t *testing.T, repo, namespace string) *v1beta1.Task {
-	return parse.MustParseTask(t, fmt.Sprintf(`
+	task := parse.MustParseTask(t, fmt.Sprintf(`
 metadata:
   name: %s
   namespace: %s
@@ -177,16 +187,14 @@ spec:
     args: ['--dockerfile=/workspace/gitsource/integration/dockerfiles/Dockerfile_test_label',
            '--destination=%s',
 		   '--context=/workspace/gitsource',
-		   '--oci-layout-path=/workspace/output/builtImage',
-		   '--insecure',
-		   '--insecure-pull',
-		   '--insecure-registry=registry.%s:5000/']
+		   '--oci-layout-path=/workspace/output/builtImage']
     securityContext:
       runAsUser: 0
   sidecars:
   - name: registry
     image: %s
-`, kanikoTaskName, namespace, getTestImage(kanikoImage), repo, namespace, getTestImage(registryImage)))
+`, kanikoTaskName, namespace, getTestImage(kanikoImage), repo, getTestImage(registryImage)))
+	return task
 }
 
 func getTaskRun(t *testing.T, namespace string) *v1beta1.TaskRun {
diff --git a/test/ko_test.go b/test/ko_test.go
index 8fd393fd600..bd6315a38f1 100644
--- a/test/ko_test.go
+++ b/test/ko_test.go
@@ -22,26 +22,9 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"testing"
 )
 
-var (
-	// Wether missing KO_DOCKER_REPO environment variable should be fatal or not
-	missingKoFatal = "true"
-)
-
-func ensureDockerRepo(t *testing.T) string {
-	repo, err := getDockerRepo()
-	if err != nil {
-		if missingKoFatal == "false" {
-			t.Skip("KO_DOCKER_REPO env variable is required")
-		}
-		t.Fatal("KO_DOCKER_REPO env variable is required")
-	}
-	return repo
-}
-
-func getDockerRepo() (string, error) {
+func getDockerRepo(name string) (string, error) {
 	// according to knative/test-infra readme (https://github.com/knative/test-infra/blob/13055d769cc5e1756e605fcb3bcc1c25376699f1/scripts/README.md)
 	// the KO_DOCKER_REPO will be set with according to the project where the cluster is created
 	// it is used here to dynamically get the docker registry to push the image to
@@ -49,5 +32,5 @@ func getDockerRepo() (string, error) {
 	if dockerRepo == "" {
 		return "", errors.New("KO_DOCKER_REPO env variable is required")
 	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/kanikotasktest", dockerRepo), nil
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", dockerRepo, name), nil
 }