diff --git a/tests/e2e/cleanup_test.go b/tests/e2e/cleanup_test.go
index 3173963..7c18136 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cleanup_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/cleanup_test.go
@@ -31,9 +31,12 @@ var _ = Describe("virtwork cleanup", Label("slow"), func() {
 	})
 
 	AfterEach(func() {
-		// Safety net cleanup
-		_, _, _, _ = testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
+		_, stderr, exitCode, err := testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
 			"--namespace", namespace, "--delete-namespace", "--yes")
+		if err != nil || exitCode != 0 {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterEach cleanup failed (ns=%s exit=%d): err=%v stderr=%s\n",
+				namespace, exitCode, err, stderr)
+		}
 	})
 
 	It("should delete all managed resources", func() {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go b/tests/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
index 3e75e5c..ffc3b29 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/e2e_suite_test.go
@@ -6,10 +6,14 @@
 package e2e_test
 
 import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 
 	"github.com/opdev/virtwork/internal/testutil"
 )
@@ -26,3 +30,39 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred(), "Failed to build virtwork binary")
 	GinkgoWriter.Printf("Using virtwork binary: %s\n", path)
 })
+
+var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
+	c := testutil.MustConnect("")
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Minute)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	var nsList corev1.NamespaceList
+	if err := c.List(ctx, &nsList); err != nil {
+		GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterSuite: failed to list namespaces: %v\n", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	var stale []string
+	for i := range nsList.Items {
+		name := nsList.Items[i].Name
+		if strings.HasPrefix(name, "virtwork-test-") && nsList.Items[i].DeletionTimestamp == nil {
+			stale = append(stale, name)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(stale) == 0 {
+		GinkgoWriter.Println("AfterSuite: no stale virtwork-test-* namespaces found")
+		return
+	}
+
+	GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterSuite: sweeping %d stale namespace(s)\n", len(stale))
+	for _, name := range stale {
+		ns := &corev1.Namespace{}
+		ns.Name = name
+		if err := c.Delete(ctx, ns); err != nil {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterSuite: failed to delete namespace %s: %v\n", name, err)
+		} else {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterSuite: deleted namespace %s\n", name)
+		}
+	}
+})
diff --git a/tests/e2e/fullcycle_test.go b/tests/e2e/fullcycle_test.go
index a233111..2b38f6b 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/fullcycle_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/fullcycle_test.go
@@ -26,8 +26,12 @@ var _ = Describe("Full deployment cycle", Label("slow"), func() {
 	})
 
 	AfterEach(func() {
-		_, _, _, _ = testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
+		_, stderr, exitCode, err := testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
 			"--namespace", namespace, "--delete-namespace", "--yes")
+		if err != nil || exitCode != 0 {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterEach cleanup failed (ns=%s exit=%d): err=%v stderr=%s\n",
+				namespace, exitCode, err, stderr)
+		}
 	})
 
 	It("should deploy CPU workload, wait for readiness, and clean up", func() {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/run_test.go b/tests/e2e/run_test.go
index 7c43623..be4f5ad 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/run_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/run_test.go
@@ -20,9 +20,12 @@ var _ = Describe("virtwork run", Label("slow"), func() {
 	})
 
 	AfterEach(func() {
-		// Force cleanup regardless of test outcome
-		_, _, _, _ = testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
-			"--namespace", namespace, "--delete-namespace")
+		_, stderr, exitCode, err := testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
+			"--namespace", namespace, "--delete-namespace", "--yes")
+		if err != nil || exitCode != 0 {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterEach cleanup failed (ns=%s exit=%d): err=%v stderr=%s\n",
+				namespace, exitCode, err, stderr)
+		}
 	})
 
 	It("should deploy a single CPU workload with --no-wait", func() {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/tps_test.go b/tests/e2e/tps_test.go
index 09e6833..c092c1e 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/tps_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/tps_test.go
@@ -26,8 +26,12 @@ var _ = Describe("TPS workload", Label("slow"), func() {
 	})
 
 	AfterEach(func() {
-		_, _, _, _ = testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
+		_, stderr, exitCode, err := testutil.RunVirtwork("cleanup",
 			"--namespace", namespace, "--delete-namespace", "--yes")
+		if err != nil || exitCode != 0 {
+			GinkgoWriter.Printf("AfterEach cleanup failed (ns=%s exit=%d): err=%v stderr=%s\n",
+				namespace, exitCode, err, stderr)
+		}
 	})
 
 	It("should deploy server and client VMs with a service", func() {