diff --git a/Dockerfile.pause b/Dockerfile.pause
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9aac2d986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.pause
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+FROM docker.io/golang:1.18 AS builder
+
+WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/openshift-kni/numaresources-operator
+COPY . .
+
+RUN make build-pause
+
+FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi-minimal
+COPY --from=builder /go/src/github.com/openshift-kni/numaresources-operator/bin/pause /
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 254e47a50..78209dcbc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -216,9 +216,12 @@ build-e2e-all: fmt vet binary-e2e-all
 
 build-must-gather-e2e: fmt vet binary-must-gather-e2e
 
-build-pause:
+build-pause: bin-dir
 	install -m 755 hack/pause bin/
 
+bin-dir:
+	@mkdir -p bin || :
+
 run: manifests generate fmt vet ## Run a controller from your host.
 	go run ./main.go
 
diff --git a/README.tests.md b/README.tests.md
index a8f6de8ec..875af307d 100644
--- a/README.tests.md
+++ b/README.tests.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ podman run -ti \
 
 The E2E suite depends on few extra images. These images are very stable, lightweight and little concern most of times:
 - `quay.io/openshift-kni/numacell-device-plugin:test-ci`
-- `gcr.io/google_containers/pause-amd64:3.0`
+- `quay.io/openshift-kni/pause:test-ci`
 
 However, in some cases it may be unpractical to depend on third party images.
 The E2E test image can act as replacement for all its dependencies, providing either the same code or replacements suitables for its use case.
diff --git a/test/utils/images/consts.go b/test/utils/images/consts.go
index cda873d5f..4aa6d83ba 100644
--- a/test/utils/images/consts.go
+++ b/test/utils/images/consts.go
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@ const (
 	NUMACellDevicePluginTestImageCI = "quay.io/openshift-kni/numacell-device-plugin:test-ci"
 
 	// the default image used for test pods
-	PauseImage = "gcr.io/google_containers/pause-amd64:3.0"
+	PauseImage = "quay.io/openshift-kni/pause:test-ci"
 )
diff --git a/test/utils/objects/consts.go b/test/utils/objects/consts.go
index 54b25eff9..4ae9894cd 100644
--- a/test/utils/objects/consts.go
+++ b/test/utils/objects/consts.go
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 package objects
 
 const (
-	PauseImage   = "gcr.io/google_containers/pause-amd64:3.0"
+	PauseImage   = "quay.io/openshift-kni/pause:test-ci"
 	PauseCommand = "/pause"
 )