diff --git a/cmd/proxy/main.go b/cmd/proxy/main.go
index e7575eaf25..73e8450789 100644
--- a/cmd/proxy/main.go
+++ b/cmd/proxy/main.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"flag"
+	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
@@ -203,10 +204,11 @@ func exit(log *zap.SugaredLogger, err error, wrapStrs ...string) {
 
 func readinessTCPHandler(port int, logger *zap.SugaredLogger) http.HandlerFunc {
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		timeout := time.Duration(1) * time.Second
-		address := net.JoinHostPort("localhost", strconv.FormatInt(int64(port), 10))
+		ctx := r.Context()
+		address := net.JoinHostPort("localhost", fmt.Sprintf("%d", port))
 
-		conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", address, timeout)
+		var d net.Dialer
+		conn, err := d.DialContext(ctx, "tcp", address)
 		if err != nil {
 			logger.Warn(errors.Wrap(err, "TCP probe to user-provided container port failed"))
 			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e/tests.py b/test/e2e/e2e/tests.py
index 5fe72a2b98..59a5c65e24 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e/tests.py
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e/tests.py
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@
 from e2e.utils import (
     apis_ready,
     api_updated,
-    api_requests,
     wait_on_event,
     wait_on_futures,
     endpoint_ready,
@@ -845,7 +844,6 @@ def test_long_running_realtime(
     assert len(api_specs) == 1
 
     time_to_run = long_running_config["time_to_run"]
-    status_code_timeout = long_running_config["status_code_timeout"]
 
     if len(node_groups) > 0:
         api_specs[0]["node_groups"] = node_groups
@@ -881,11 +879,6 @@ def test_long_running_realtime(
 
             counter += 1
 
-        printer("verifying number of processed requests using the client")
-        assert api_requests(
-            client, api_name, counter, timeout=status_code_timeout
-        ), f"the number of 2xx response codes for api {api_name} doesn't match the expected number {counter}"
-
     except:
         # best effort
         try:
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e/utils.py b/test/e2e/e2e/utils.py
index 52020a037c..27d12f46af 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e/utils.py
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e/utils.py
@@ -38,10 +38,11 @@ def wait_for(fn: Callable[[], bool], timeout=None) -> bool:
 
 
 def apis_ready(client: cx.Client, api_names: List[str], timeout: Optional[int] = None) -> bool:
+    def _check_liveness(status):
+        return status["requested"] == status["ready"] == status["up_to_date"]
+
     def _is_ready():
-        return all(
-            [client.get_api(name)["status"]["status_code"] == "status_live" for name in api_names]
-        )
+        return all([_check_liveness(client.get_api(name)["status"]) for name in api_names])
 
     return wait_for(_is_ready, timeout=timeout)
 
@@ -49,16 +50,7 @@ def _is_ready():
 def api_updated(client: cx.Client, api_name: str, timeout: Optional[int] = None) -> bool:
     def _is_ready():
         status = client.get_api(api_name)["status"]
-        return status["replica_counts"]["requested"] == status["replica_counts"]["updated"]["ready"]
-
-    return wait_for(_is_ready, timeout=timeout)
-
-
-def api_requests(
-    client: cx.Client, api_name: str, target_requests: int, timeout: Optional[int] = None
-) -> bool:
-    def _is_ready():
-        return client.get_api(api_name)["metrics"]["network_stats"]["code_2xx"] == target_requests
+        return status["requested"] == status["ready"]
 
     return wait_for(_is_ready, timeout=timeout)