diff --git a/e2e/tests/test_smoke.py b/e2e/tests/test_smoke.py
index 7ad51cf1b..23fcc22bc 100755
--- a/e2e/tests/test_smoke.py
+++ b/e2e/tests/test_smoke.py
@@ -5,10 +5,21 @@ from pprint import pprint
 import timeout_decorator
 import subprocess
 
+
+class K8sApi:
+
+    def __init__(self):
+       self.config = config.load_kube_config()
+       self.k8s_client = client.ApiClient()
+       self.core_v1 = client.CoreV1Api()
+       self.crd_api = client.CustomObjectsApi()
+
+
 class SmokeTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     '''
     Test the most basic e2e functionality of the operator.
     '''
+
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
         '''
@@ -19,73 +30,79 @@ class SmokeTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         In the case of test failure the cluster will stay to enable manual examination;
         next invocation of "make e2e" will re-create it.
         '''
-
-        _ = config.load_kube_config()
-        k8s_client = client.ApiClient()
-
+    
         # HACK 
         # 1. creating RBAC entites with a separate client fails with "AttributeError: object has no attribute 'select_header_accept'"
         # 2. utils.create_from_yaml cannot create multiple entites from a single file
         subprocess.run(["kubectl", "create", "-f", "manifests/operator-service-account-rbac.yaml"])
 
+        k8s_api = K8sApi()
+
         for filename in ["configmap.yaml", "postgres-operator.yaml"]:
             path = "manifests/" + filename
-            utils.create_from_yaml(k8s_client, path)
+            utils.create_from_yaml(k8s_api.k8s_client, path)
 
-        v1 = client.CoreV1Api()
         pod_phase = None
         while pod_phase != 'Running':
-            pods = v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='name=postgres-operator').items
+            pods = k8s_api.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='name=postgres-operator').items
             if pods:
                operator_pod = pods[0]
                pod_phase = operator_pod.status.phase
             print("Waiting for the operator pod to start. Current phase of pod lifecycle: " + str(pod_phase))
             time.sleep(5)
 
-        k8s_client = client.ApiClient()
-
         # HACK around the lack of Python client for the acid.zalan.do resource
         subprocess.run(["kubectl", "create", "-f", "manifests/minimal-postgres-manifest.yaml"])
 
         pod_phase = 'None'
         while pod_phase != 'Running':
-            pods = v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='spilo-role=master').items
+            pods = k8s_api.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='spilo-role=master').items
             if pods:
                operator_pod = pods[0]
                pod_phase = operator_pod.status.phase
             print("Waiting for the Spilo master pod to start. Current phase: " + str(pod_phase))
             time.sleep(5)
-
-    @timeout_decorator.timeout(60)
+        
+    @timeout_decorator.timeout(240)
     def test_master_is_unique(self):
         """
            Check that there is a single pod in the k8s cluster with the label "spilo-role=master".
         """
-        _ = config.load_kube_config()
-        v1 = client.CoreV1Api()
-        master_pods = v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='spilo-role=master,version=acid-minimal-cluster').items
+        k8s = K8sApi()
+        master_pods = k8s.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='spilo-role=master,version=acid-minimal-cluster').items
         self.assertEqual(len(master_pods), 1, "Expected 1 master pod,found " + str(len(master_pods)))
 
-    @timeout_decorator.timeout(60)
+    @timeout_decorator.timeout(240)
     def test_scaling(self):
         """
            Scale up from 2 to 3 pods and back to 2 by updating the Postgres manifest at runtime.
         """
-
-        _ = config.load_kube_config()
-        crd_api = client.CustomObjectsApi()
-        v1 = client.CoreV1Api()
+        k8s = K8sApi()
 
         body = {
             "spec": {
                 "numberOfInstances": 3
             }
         }
-        _ = crd_api.patch_namespaced_custom_object("acid.zalan.do", "v1", "default", "postgresqls", "acid-minimal-cluster", body)
+        _ = k8s.crd_api.patch_namespaced_custom_object("acid.zalan.do", "v1", "default", "postgresqls", "acid-minimal-cluster", body)
 
-        while len(v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='version=acid-minimal-cluster').items) != 3:
-            print("Waiting for the cluster to scale up to 3 podes.")
+        while len(k8s.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='version=acid-minimal-cluster').items) != 3:
+            print("Waiting for the cluster to scale up to 3 pods.")
             time.sleep(5)
+        self.assertEqual(3, len(k8s.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='version=acid-minimal-cluster').items))
+
+        body = {
+            "spec": {
+                "numberOfInstances": 2
+            }
+        }
+
+        _ = k8s.crd_api.patch_namespaced_custom_object("acid.zalan.do", "v1", "default", "postgresqls", "acid-minimal-cluster", body)
+
+        while len(k8s.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='version=acid-minimal-cluster').items) != 2:
+            print("Waiting for the cluster to scale down to 2 pods.")
+            time.sleep(5)
+        self.assertEqual(2, len(k8s.core_v1.list_namespaced_pod('default', label_selector='version=acid-minimal-cluster').items))
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
\ No newline at end of file