diff --git a/pkg/certificate/auto/provider.go b/pkg/certificate/auto/provider.go
index fe83590..38a75e3 100644
--- a/pkg/certificate/auto/provider.go
+++ b/pkg/certificate/auto/provider.go
@@ -33,22 +33,22 @@ const (
 
 type Provider struct {
 	client.Client
+	config *interfaces.Config
 }
 
 var _ interfaces.Provider = (*Provider)(nil)
 
 func New(c client.Client) interfaces.Provider {
 	return &Provider{
-		c,
+		Client: c,
+		config: nil,
 	}
 }
 
-var userAutoConfig *interfaces.Config
-
 func (ac *Provider) EnsureCertificateSecret(ctx context.Context, secretKey client.ObjectKey,
 	cfg *interfaces.Config) error {
 	// Save the user defined AutoConfig so that it can be returned from GetCertificateConfig
-	userAutoConfig = cfg
+	ac.config = cfg
 
 	var secret corev1.Secret
 	err := ac.Get(ctx, secretKey, &secret)
@@ -162,8 +162,8 @@ func (ac *Provider) GetCertificateConfig(ctx context.Context,
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get certificate: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	if userAutoConfig != nil {
-		return userAutoConfig, nil
+	if ac.config != nil {
+		return ac.config, nil
 	}
 
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get user-defined autoConfig")
diff --git a/test/e2e/auto_provider_test.go b/test/e2e/auto_provider_test.go
index e9aa9bf..056232a 100644
--- a/test/e2e/auto_provider_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/auto_provider_test.go
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ func TestAutoProvider(t *testing.T) {
 			cl := cfg.Client()
 			acProvider := auto.New(cl.Resources().GetControllerRuntimeClient())
 			secretKey := client.ObjectKey{Name: cmCertificateName, Namespace: cmCertificateNamespace}
+			err := acProvider.EnsureCertificateSecret(ctx, secretKey, cmConfig)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Auto Provider Certificate could not be created: %v", err)
+			}
 			config, err := acProvider.GetCertificateConfig(ctx, secretKey)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("Auto Certificate not found: %v", err)
@@ -183,6 +187,14 @@ func TestClusterAutoCertCreation(t *testing.T) {
 			); err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("timed out waiting for certificate: %s", err)
 			}
+
+			return ctx
+		},
+	)
+
+	feature.Assess("Wait for StatefulSet readiness",
+		func(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, c *envconf.Config) context.Context {
+			waitForSTSReadiness(t, c, etcdClusterName, size)
 			return ctx
 		},
 	)