diff --git a/examples/BUILD b/examples/BUILD
index f94b8aa8b7d1..57de50a4d6ff 100644
--- a/examples/BUILD
+++ b/examples/BUILD
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ filegroup(
             "**/*.yaml",
         ],
         exclude = [
+            "cache/ci-responses.yaml",
             "cache/responses.yaml",
             "dynamic-config-fs/**/*",
             "jaeger-native-tracing/*",
diff --git a/examples/cache/ci-responses.yaml b/examples/cache/ci-responses.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..be571a8338c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cache/ci-responses.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+valid-for-minute:
+  body: This response will stay fresh for one minute
+  headers:
+    cache-control: max-age=4
+    custom-header: any value
+private:
+  body: This is a private response, it will not be cached by Envoy
+  headers:
+    cache-control: private
+no-cache:
+  body: This response can be cached, but it has to be validated on each request
+  headers:
+    cache-control: max-age=0, no-cache
diff --git a/examples/cache/docker-compose.yaml b/examples/cache/docker-compose.yaml
index 76d63163b847..9337a7830ae6 100644
--- a/examples/cache/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/examples/cache/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ services:
       context: ../shared/python
       target: aiohttp-service
     volumes:
-    - ./responses.yaml:/etc/responses.yaml
+    - "${CACHE_RESPONSES_YAML:-./responses.yaml}:/etc/responses.yaml"
     - ./service.py:/code/service.py
     environment:
     - SERVICE_NAME=1
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ services:
       context: ../shared/python
       target: aiohttp-service
     volumes:
-    - ./responses.yaml:/etc/responses.yaml
+    - "${CACHE_RESPONSES_YAML:-./responses.yaml}:/etc/responses.yaml"
     - ./service.py:/code/service.py
     environment:
     - SERVICE_NAME=2
diff --git a/examples/cache/verify.sh b/examples/cache/verify.sh
index d52b3b8f335b..004cdc2da213 100755
--- a/examples/cache/verify.sh
+++ b/examples/cache/verify.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 export NAME=cache
 
 export PORT_PROXY="${CACHE_PORT_PROXY:-10300}"
+export CACHE_RESPONSES_YAML=./ci-responses.yaml
+
 
 # shellcheck source=examples/verify-common.sh
 . "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../verify-common.sh"
@@ -56,15 +58,15 @@ run_log "Valid-for-minute: First request should be served by the origin"
 response=$(curl -si "localhost:${PORT_PROXY}/service/1/valid-for-minute")
 check_from_origin "$response"
 
-run_log "Snooze for 30 seconds"
-sleep 30
+run_log "Snooze for 2 seconds"
+sleep 2
 
 run_log "Valid-for-minute: Second request should be served from cache"
 response=$(curl -si "localhost:${PORT_PROXY}/service/1/valid-for-minute")
 check_cached "$response"
 
-run_log "Snooze for 31 more seconds"
-sleep 31
+run_log "Snooze for 3 more seconds"
+sleep 3
 
 run_log "Valid-for-minute: More than a minute has passed, this request should get a validated response"
 response=$(curl -si "localhost:${PORT_PROXY}/service/1/valid-for-minute")
diff --git a/examples/front-proxy/verify.sh b/examples/front-proxy/verify.sh
index 77b54a68adec..398e85161a7e 100755
--- a/examples/front-proxy/verify.sh
+++ b/examples/front-proxy/verify.sh
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@ responds_with \
     -k "https://localhost:${PORT_HTTPS}/service/1"
 
 run_log "Scale up docker service1=3"
-"${DOCKER_COMPOSE[@]}" up -d --scale service1=3
-run_log "Snooze for 5 while docker compose scales..."
-sleep 5
+"${DOCKER_COMPOSE[@]}" up --wait -d --scale service1=3
 
 run_log "Test round-robin localhost:${PORT_PROXY}/service/1"
 "${DOCKER_COMPOSE[@]}" exec -T front-envoy bash -c "\