diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 516b859531..5478f58d37 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ ifeq ($(SELINUX_ENABLED),1)
 endif
 
 # Set build time variables including version details
-LDFLAGS := $(shell hack/version.sh)
+LDFLAGS ?= $(shell hack/version.sh)
 
 # Additional CAPV vars (everything else is ~ kept in sync with core CAPI)
 # Allow overriding manifest generation destination directory
diff --git a/hack/e2e.sh b/hack/e2e.sh
index 83609f2d0d..3addb714ca 100755
--- a/hack/e2e.sh
+++ b/hack/e2e.sh
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ export WORKLOAD_CONTROL_PLANE_ENDPOINT_IP
 echo "Acquired Workload Cluster Control Plane IP: $WORKLOAD_CONTROL_PLANE_ENDPOINT_IP"
 
 # save the docker image locally
+export LDFLAGS=""
 make e2e-image
 mkdir -p "$ARTIFACTS"/tempContainers
 docker save gcr.io/k8s-staging-cluster-api/capv-manager:e2e -o "$DOCKER_IMAGE_TAR"