diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f09af2a95b..46eb58c2e1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,3 +28,4 @@ __pycache__
 /tests/.tox/
 /tests/.vscode
 /sonobuoy-output
+*.tmp
diff --git a/scripts/test b/scripts/test
index e7463e1b71..5cc3cf2a67 100755
--- a/scripts/test
+++ b/scripts/test
@@ -13,19 +13,18 @@ mkdir -p $artifacts
 
 # ---
 
+[ "$ARCH" = 'arm' ] && \
+  early-exit "Skipping sonobuoy, images not available for $ARCH."
+
 E2E_OUTPUT=$artifacts test-run-sonobuoy
 
 # ---
 
-if [ "$DRONE_BUILD_EVENT" = 'tag' ]; then
-  printf "\033[33mSkipping remaining tests on tag.\033[m\n"
-  exit 0
-fi
+[ "$DRONE_BUILD_EVENT" = 'tag' ] && \
+  early-exit 'Skipping remaining tests on tag.'
 
-if [ "$ARCH" != 'amd64' ]; then
-  printf "\033[33mSkipping remaining tests, images not available for $ARCH.\033[m\n"
-  exit 0
-fi
+[ "$ARCH" != 'amd64' ] && \
+  early-exit "Skipping remaining tests, images not available for $ARCH."
 
 # ---
 
diff --git a/scripts/test-helpers b/scripts/test-helpers
index 060cc39e15..f14380861e 100755
--- a/scripts/test-helpers
+++ b/scripts/test-helpers
@@ -437,6 +437,14 @@ export -f provision-cluster
 
 # ---
 
+early-exit() {
+    printf "\033[33m$1\033[m\n"
+    exit $2
+}
+export -f early-exit
+
+# ---
+
 run-test() {
     export PROVISION_LOCK=$(mktemp)
     ./scripts/test-runner $@ &
@@ -454,27 +462,27 @@ export -f run-test
 # ---
 
 e2e-test() {
-  local label=$label
-  if [ -n "$LABEL_SUFFIX" ]; then
-    label="$label-$LABEL_SUFFIX"
-  fi
-  local logOutput=
-  if [ -n "$E2E_OUTPUT" ]; then
-    logOutput=$E2E_OUTPUT/$logName
-  fi
-  LABEL=$label LOG_OUTPUT=$logOutput run-test $@
+    local label=$label
+    if [ -n "$LABEL_SUFFIX" ]; then
+        label="$label-$LABEL_SUFFIX"
+    fi
+    local logOutput=
+    if [ -n "$E2E_OUTPUT" ]; then
+        logOutput=$E2E_OUTPUT/$logName
+    fi
+    LABEL=$label LOG_OUTPUT=$logOutput run-test $@
 }
 
 # ---
 
 run-e2e-tests() {
-  label=PARALLEL \
-      logName=e2e-STATUS-${ARCH}-parallel.log \
-      e2e-test ${sonobuoyParallelArgs[@]}
+    label=PARALLEL \
+        logName=e2e-STATUS-${ARCH}-parallel.log \
+        e2e-test ${sonobuoyParallelArgs[@]}
 
-  label=SERIAL \
-      logName=e2e-STATUS-${ARCH}-serial.log \
-      e2e-test ${sonobuoySerialArgs[@]}
+    label=SERIAL \
+        logName=e2e-STATUS-${ARCH}-serial.log \
+        e2e-test ${sonobuoySerialArgs[@]}
 }
 export -f run-e2e-tests
 
diff --git a/scripts/test-run-basics b/scripts/test-run-basics
index 02fcbe29c4..a02a66beb3 100755
--- a/scripts/test-run-basics
+++ b/scripts/test-run-basics
@@ -1,14 +1,39 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+all_services=(
+    coredns
+    local-path-provisioner
+    metrics-server
+    nginx-ingress-controller
+    nginx-ingress-default-backend
+)
+
 export NUM_SERVERS=1
 export NUM_AGENTS=1
-export SERVER_ARGS='--no-deploy=traefik,coredns,local-storage,metrics-server'
+export WAIT_SERVICES="${all_services[@]}"
 
 start-test() {
     docker exec $(cat $TEST_DIR/servers/1/metadata/name) check-config || true
     verify-valid-versions $(cat $TEST_DIR/servers/1/metadata/name)
+    verify-airgap-images $(cat $TEST_DIR/{servers,agents}/*/metadata/name)
 }
 export -f start-test
 
+# -- check for changes to the airgap image list
+verify-airgap-images() {
+    local airgap_image_list='scripts/airgap/image-list.txt'
+
+    for name in $@; do
+        docker exec $name crictl images -o json \
+            | jq -r '.images[].repoTags[0] | select(. != null)'
+    done | sort -u >$airgap_image_list.tmp
+
+    if ! diff $airgap_image_list{,.tmp}; then
+        echo '[ERROR] Failed airgap image check'
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+export -f verify-airgap-images
+
 # --- create a basic cluster and check for valid versions
 LABEL=BASICS run-test