diff --git a/.github/workflows/gh-test-external-registry.yml b/.github/workflows/gh-test-external-registry.yml
index 3d0fcf4d..05a63e2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gh-test-external-registry.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gh-test-external-registry.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ jobs:
           export IMGPKG_E2E_IMAGE="$IMGPKG_E2E_IMAGE-$GITHUB_RUN_ID"
           export IMGPKG_E2E_RELOCATION_REPO="$IMGPKG_E2E_RELOCATION_REPO-$GITHUB_RUN_ID"
 
+          export GOPATH=$(echo `pwd`)
+          export PATH="$PATH:$GOPATH/bin"
+          cd src/github.com/${{ github.repository }}
+          
           docker login -u _json_key --password-stdin https://gcr.io <<< "$GCR_PASSWORD"
 
           # pull registry for e2e tests that require a locally running docker registry. i.e. airgapped env tests