diff --git a/e2e/harness/client.go b/e2e/harness/client.go
index 19210349f..e31173374 100644
--- a/e2e/harness/client.go
+++ b/e2e/harness/client.go
@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@ func StartClient(ctx context.Context, c *Combined, setupKey string) (*Client, er
 			// Match the proxy: the combined relay is WebSocket-only, so the
 			// client must use WS transport to keep a stable relay link to it.
 			"NB_RELAY_TRANSPORT": "ws",
+			// Lazy connections defer the peer dial until traffic flows, which
+			// leaves `netbird status` at "0/N Connected" and starves
+			// WaitProxyPeer. Force eager connections so the proxy peer shows
+			// Connected as soon as the tunnel is up.
+			"NB_LAZY_CONN": "false",
 		},
 		HostConfigModifier: func(hc *container.HostConfig) {
 			hc.CapAdd = append(hc.CapAdd, "NET_ADMIN", "SYS_ADMIN", "SYS_RESOURCE")
diff --git a/e2e/harness/proxy.go b/e2e/harness/proxy.go
index 8db2c140f..8d5b7e4f2 100644
--- a/e2e/harness/proxy.go
+++ b/e2e/harness/proxy.go
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ func StartProxy(ctx context.Context, c *Combined, proxyToken string) (*Proxy, er
 			// Management is plain HTTP in-cluster, so allow the proxy token to
 			// ride a non-TLS gRPC connection.
 			"NB_PROXY_ALLOW_INSECURE": "true",
+			// Keep the embedded overlay peer eager (see the client env note):
+			// lazy connections leave peers unconnected until traffic, which
+			// starves the harness's WaitProxyPeer.
+			"NB_LAZY_CONN": "false",
 			// The combined server multiplexes the relay over WebSocket on :8080
 			// (no QUIC listener). The proxy's embedded relay client defaults to
 			// QUIC, which fails here and flaps the relay link, churning the