diff --git a/pkg/test/ginkgo/test_suite.go b/pkg/test/ginkgo/test_suite.go
index 67d54e7b1acb..48ea2a4b89ba 100644
--- a/pkg/test/ginkgo/test_suite.go
+++ b/pkg/test/ginkgo/test_suite.go
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ type TestSuite struct {
 	TestTimeout time.Duration `json:"testTimeout,omitempty"`
 
 	// OTE
+	Parents    []string              `json:"parents,omitempty"`
 	Qualifiers []string              `json:"qualifiers,omitempty"`
 	Extension  *extensions.Extension `json:"-"`
 }
diff --git a/pkg/testsuites/parents_test.go b/pkg/testsuites/parents_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..80d4127f9c2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/testsuites/parents_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+package testsuites
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/openshift/origin/pkg/test/ginkgo"
+)
+
+func TestMergeParentQualifiers(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("child qualifiers merge into parent", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent"},
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"q1", "q2"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"q1", "q2"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("multiple children merge into same parent", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent"},
+			{Name: "child-a", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qa"}},
+			{Name: "child-b", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qb"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"qa", "qb"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("duplicate qualifiers are not added twice", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent", Qualifiers: []string{"shared"}},
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"shared", "unique"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"shared", "unique"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("transitive parents propagate grandchild to grandparent", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "grandparent"},
+			{Name: "parent", Parents: []string{"grandparent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qp"}},
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qc"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"qp", "qc"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "grandparent", []string{"qp", "qc"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("transitive parents work regardless of slice order", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qc"}},
+			{Name: "grandparent"},
+			{Name: "parent", Parents: []string{"grandparent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qp"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"qp", "qc"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "grandparent", []string{"qp", "qc"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("four levels deep propagates to root", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "root"},
+			{Name: "l1", Parents: []string{"root"}, Qualifiers: []string{"q1"}},
+			{Name: "l2", Parents: []string{"l1"}, Qualifiers: []string{"q2"}},
+			{Name: "l3", Parents: []string{"l2"}, Qualifiers: []string{"q3"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "l2", []string{"q2", "q3"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "l1", []string{"q1", "q2", "q3"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "root", []string{"q1", "q2", "q3"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("child with multiple parents merges into all", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent-a"},
+			{Name: "parent-b"},
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent-a", "parent-b"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qc"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent-a", []string{"qc"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent-b", []string{"qc"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("child qualifiers are unchanged", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent"},
+			{Name: "child", Parents: []string{"parent"}, Qualifiers: []string{"qc"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "child", []string{"qc"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("suite with no parents is unaffected", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "standalone", Qualifiers: []string{"qs"}},
+			{Name: "other", Qualifiers: []string{"qo"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "standalone", []string{"qs"})
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "other", []string{"qo"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("parent with no children keeps its own qualifiers", func(t *testing.T) {
+		suites := []*ginkgo.TestSuite{
+			{Name: "parent", Qualifiers: []string{"qp"}},
+		}
+		mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
+		assertQualifiers(t, suites, "parent", []string{"qp"})
+	})
+}
+
+func TestConformanceInheritsFromChildren(t *testing.T) {
+	suites := InternalTestSuites()
+
+	var conformance, parallel, serial *ginkgo.TestSuite
+	for _, s := range suites {
+		switch s.Name {
+		case "openshift/conformance":
+			conformance = s
+		case "openshift/conformance/parallel":
+			parallel = s
+		case "openshift/conformance/serial":
+			serial = s
+		}
+	}
+
+	if conformance == nil || parallel == nil || serial == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected to find conformance, parallel, and serial suites")
+	}
+
+	if len(parallel.Qualifiers) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("parallel suite has no qualifiers")
+	}
+	if len(serial.Qualifiers) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("serial suite has no qualifiers")
+	}
+
+	qualifierSet := make(map[string]bool, len(conformance.Qualifiers))
+	for _, q := range conformance.Qualifiers {
+		qualifierSet[q] = true
+	}
+
+	for _, q := range parallel.Qualifiers {
+		if !qualifierSet[q] {
+			t.Errorf("conformance suite missing qualifier from parallel: %s", q)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, q := range serial.Qualifiers {
+		if !qualifierSet[q] {
+			t.Errorf("conformance suite missing qualifier from serial: %s", q)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func findSuite(suites []*ginkgo.TestSuite, name string) *ginkgo.TestSuite {
+	for _, s := range suites {
+		if s.Name == name {
+			return s
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func assertQualifiers(t *testing.T, suites []*ginkgo.TestSuite, suiteName string, expected []string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	suite := findSuite(suites, suiteName)
+	if suite == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("suite %q not found", suiteName)
+	}
+	if len(suite.Qualifiers) != len(expected) {
+		t.Errorf("suite %q: expected %d qualifiers %v, got %d: %v",
+			suiteName, len(expected), expected, len(suite.Qualifiers), suite.Qualifiers)
+		return
+	}
+	for i, q := range expected {
+		if suite.Qualifiers[i] != q {
+			t.Errorf("suite %q qualifier[%d]: expected %q, got %q",
+				suiteName, i, q, suite.Qualifiers[i])
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/testsuites/standard_suites.go b/pkg/testsuites/standard_suites.go
index d1f403b54189..557d7e28ddd8 100644
--- a/pkg/testsuites/standard_suites.go
+++ b/pkg/testsuites/standard_suites.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func InternalTestSuites() []*ginkgo.TestSuite {
 		curr := staticSuites[i]
 		copied = append(copied, &curr)
 	}
+	mergeParentQualifiers(copied)
 	return copied
 }
 
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ func AllTestSuites(ctx context.Context) ([]*ginkgo.TestSuite, error) {
 				Kind:                       ginkgo.KindExternal,
 				Count:                      s.Count,
 				Extension:                  e,
+				Parents:                    s.Parents,
 				Parallelism:                s.Parallelism,
 				Qualifiers:                 s.Qualifiers,
 				TestTimeout:                timeout,
@@ -96,19 +98,9 @@ func AllTestSuites(ctx context.Context) ([]*ginkgo.TestSuite, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Now handle setting qualifiers for parent suites once we've assembled the complete
-	// list of suites.
-	for _, e := range extensionInfos {
-		for _, s := range e.Suites {
-			for _, p := range s.Parents {
-				for _, parent := range suites {
-					if parent.Name == p {
-						parent.Qualifiers = append(parent.Qualifiers, s.Qualifiers...)
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
+	// Merge qualifiers from child suites into their declared parents. The fixed-point
+	// loop handles arbitrary depth (e.g. extension → parallel → conformance).
+	mergeParentQualifiers(suites)
 
 	return suites, nil
 }
@@ -120,9 +112,6 @@ var staticSuites = []ginkgo.TestSuite{
 		Description: templates.LongDesc(`
 		Tests that ensure an OpenShift cluster and components are working properly.
 		`),
-		Qualifiers: []string{
-			withExcludedTestsFilter("name.contains('[Suite:openshift/conformance/')"),
-		},
 		Parallelism: 30,
 	},
 	{
@@ -130,6 +119,7 @@ var staticSuites = []ginkgo.TestSuite{
 		Description: templates.LongDesc(`
 		Only the portion of the openshift/conformance test suite that run in parallel.
 		`),
+		Parents: []string{"openshift/conformance"},
 		Qualifiers: []string{
 			withExcludedTestsFilter("name.contains('[Suite:openshift/conformance/parallel')"),
 		},
@@ -141,6 +131,7 @@ var staticSuites = []ginkgo.TestSuite{
 		Description: templates.LongDesc(`
 		Only the portion of the openshift/conformance test suite that run serially.
 		`),
+		Parents: []string{"openshift/conformance"},
 		Qualifiers: []string{
 			// Standard early and late tests are included in the serial suite
 			withExcludedTestsFilter(withStandardEarlyOrLateTests("name.contains('[Suite:openshift/conformance/serial')")),
@@ -511,6 +502,37 @@ var staticSuites = []ginkgo.TestSuite{
 	},
 }
 
+// mergeParentQualifiers appends each suite's qualifiers to its declared parent
+// suites, deduplicating so the same qualifier isn't added twice. It repeats
+// until no new qualifiers are added, so transitive parent chains (grandchildren)
+// propagate fully regardless of slice order.
+func mergeParentQualifiers(suites []*ginkgo.TestSuite) {
+	for {
+		changed := false
+		for _, child := range suites {
+			for _, parentName := range child.Parents {
+				for _, parent := range suites {
+					if parent.Name == parentName {
+						existing := make(map[string]bool, len(parent.Qualifiers))
+						for _, q := range parent.Qualifiers {
+							existing[q] = true
+						}
+						for _, q := range child.Qualifiers {
+							if !existing[q] {
+								parent.Qualifiers = append(parent.Qualifiers, q)
+								changed = true
+							}
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if !changed {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func withExcludedTestsFilter(baseExpr string) string {
 	filter := ""
 	for i, s := range extensions.ExcludedTests {