diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/basic/e2e.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/basic/e2e.ts
index 8f7ef2de0569..3b175cd945fc 100644
--- a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/basic/e2e.ts
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/basic/e2e.ts
@@ -1,26 +1,13 @@
-// TODO(architect): edit the architect config instead of the cli config.
-
 import {
   ng,
-  npm,
   execAndWaitForOutputToMatch,
   killAllProcesses
 } from '../../utils/process';
-import {updateJsonFile} from '../../utils/project';
 import {expectToFail} from '../../utils/utils';
 import {moveFile, copyFile, replaceInFile} from '../../utils/fs';
 
 export default function () {
-  // Should fail without updated webdriver
-  return updateJsonFile('package.json', packageJson => {
-    // Add to npm scripts to make running the binary compatible with Windows
-    const scripts = packageJson['scripts'];
-    scripts['wd:clean'] = 'webdriver-manager clean';
-  })
-    .then(() => npm('run', 'wd:clean'))
-    .then(() => expectToFail(() => ng('e2e', 'test-project', '--no-webdriver-update', '--devServerTarget=')))
-    // Add back the pre-defined version of webdriver. This script is defined when making projects.
-    .then(() => npm('run', 'webdriver-update'))
+  return Promise.resolve()
     // Should fail without serving
     .then(() => expectToFail(() => ng('e2e', 'test-project', '--devServerTarget=')))
     // These should work.
@@ -61,7 +48,10 @@ export default function () {
     .then(() => execAndWaitForOutputToMatch('ng', ['serve'],
       /: Compiled successfully./))
     .then(() => ng('e2e', 'test-project', '--devServerTarget='))
-    .then(() => killAllProcesses(), (err: any) => {
+    // Should fail without updated webdriver
+    .then(() => replaceInFile('e2e/protractor.conf.js', /chromeDriver: String.raw`[^`]*`,/, ''))
+    .then(() => expectToFail(() => ng('e2e', 'test-project', '--no-webdriver-update', '--devServerTarget=')))
+    .then(() => killAllProcesses(), (err) => {
       killAllProcesses();
       throw err;
     });
diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/commands/add/add-pwa-yarn.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/commands/add/add-pwa-yarn.ts
index 37f929954203..44f3ac239e8e 100644
--- a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/commands/add/add-pwa-yarn.ts
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/commands/add/add-pwa-yarn.ts
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@ export default async function () {
     }
 
     // 'yarn' will nuke the entire node_modules when it is triggered during the above tests.
-    // Let's restore the previous node_modules state by re-installing using 'npm'
-    // and run 'webdriver-update'. Otherwise, we will start seeing errors in CI like:
-    // Error: Could not find update-config.json. Run 'webdriver-manager update' to download binaries.
+    await rimraf('node_modules');
     await npm('install');
-    await npm('run', 'webdriver-update');
 }
diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/utils/project.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/utils/project.ts
index e494e8f35c77..0e8337b9c642 100644
--- a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/utils/project.ts
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/utils/project.ts
@@ -245,16 +245,7 @@ export function useCIDefaults(projectName = 'test-project') {
       const e2eTargets = e2eProject.targets || e2eProject.architect;
       e2eTargets.e2e.options.webdriverUpdate = false;
     }
-  })
-    .then(() => updateJsonFile('package.json', json => {
-      // Use matching versions of Chromium and ChromeDriver.
-      // https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer/releases
-      // http://chromedriver.chromium.org/downloads
-      json['scripts']['webdriver-update'] = 'webdriver-manager update' +
-        ` --standalone false --gecko false --versions.chrome 81.0.4044.0`; // Supports Chrome 81
-
-    }))
-    .then(() => npm('run', 'webdriver-update'));
+  });
 }
 
 export function useCIChrome(projectDir: string) {
@@ -262,32 +253,36 @@ export function useCIChrome(projectDir: string) {
   const protractorConf = `${dir}protractor.conf.js`;
   const karmaConf = `${dir}karma.conf.js`;
 
+  const chromePath = require('puppeteer').executablePath();
+  const chromeDriverPath = require('webdriver-manager/selenium/update-config.json').chrome.last;
+
   return Promise.resolve()
     .then(() => updateJsonFile('package.json', json => {
-      // Use matching versions of Chromium (via puppeteer) and ChromeDriver.
-      // https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer/releases
-      // http://chromedriver.chromium.org/downloads
-      json['devDependencies']['puppeteer'] = '3.0.2'; // Chromium 81.0.4044.0 (r737027)
       json['devDependencies']['karma-chrome-launcher'] = '~3.1.0';
     }))
     // Use Pupeteer in protractor if a config is found on the project.
-    .then(() => {
+    .then(async () => {
       if (fs.existsSync(protractorConf)) {
-        return replaceInFile(protractorConf,
+        await replaceInFile(protractorConf,
           `browserName: 'chrome'`,
           `browserName: 'chrome',
           chromeOptions: {
             args: ['--headless'],
-            binary: require('puppeteer').executablePath()
+            binary: String.raw\`${chromePath}\`,
           }
         `);
+        await replaceInFile(
+          protractorConf,
+          'directConnect: true,',
+          `directConnect: true, chromeDriver: String.raw\`${chromeDriverPath}\`,`,
+        );
       }
     })
     // Use Pupeteer in karma if a config is found on the project.
     .then(() => {
       if (fs.existsSync(karmaConf)) {
         return prependToFile(karmaConf,
-          `process.env.CHROME_BIN = require('puppeteer').executablePath();`)
+          `process.env.CHROME_BIN = String.raw\`${chromePath}\`;`)
           .then(() => replaceInFile(karmaConf,
             `browsers: ['Chrome']`,
             `browsers: ['Chrome'],