diff --git a/ci-operator/config/openshift/cluster-node-tuning-operator/openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator-main.yaml b/ci-operator/config/openshift/cluster-node-tuning-operator/openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator-main.yaml
index 63b3abed93253..351ae6b94914a 100644
--- a/ci-operator/config/openshift/cluster-node-tuning-operator/openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator-main.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/config/openshift/cluster-node-tuning-operator/openshift-cluster-node-tuning-operator-main.yaml
@@ -150,7 +150,8 @@ tests:
     test:
     - as: test
       cli: latest
-      commands: CLUSTER=mcp-only make cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests
+      commands: "export RESERVED_CPU_SET=\"0\"\nexport ISOLATED_CPU_SET=\"1-5\"\nexport
+        CLUSTER=mcp-only \nmake cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests"
       from: src
       resources:
         requests:
@@ -166,7 +167,8 @@ tests:
     test:
     - as: test
       cli: latest
-      commands: CLUSTER=mcp-only make cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests-updating-profile
+      commands: "export RESERVED_CPU_SET=\"0\"\nexport ISOLATED_CPU_SET=\"1-5\"\nexport
+        CLUSTER=mcp-only \nmake cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests-updating-profile"
       from: src
       resources:
         requests:
@@ -182,7 +184,8 @@ tests:
     test:
     - as: test
       cli: latest
-      commands: CLUSTER=mcp-only make cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests-performance-workloadhints
+      commands: "export RESERVED_CPU_SET=\"0\"\nexport ISOLATED_CPU_SET=\"1-5\"\nexport
+        CLUSTER=mcp-only \nmake cluster-deploy-pao && make pao-functests-performance-workloadhints"
       from: src
       resources:
         requests: