diff --git a/e2e/metrics_assertions_test.go b/e2e/metrics_assertions_test.go
index f31dd0413..6ecdaee7b 100644
--- a/e2e/metrics_assertions_test.go
+++ b/e2e/metrics_assertions_test.go
@@ -16,15 +16,15 @@ import (
 func getMetricsGaugeValue(url string, name string) (int, error) {
 	resp, err := http.Get(url)
 	if err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("could not get metrics: %w", err)
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("could not get metrics from url %v: %w", url, err)
 	}
 
 	metricsParser := &expfmt.TextParser{}
 	metricsFamilies, err := metricsParser.TextToMetricFamilies(resp.Body)
-	defer resp.Body.Close()
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("could not parse metrics: %w", err)
 	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
 	metricFamily, exists := metricsFamilies[name]
 	if !exists {
@@ -41,17 +41,17 @@ func assertAgentsAreConnected(expectedConnections int, adminPort int) func(conte
 		var agentPods *corev1.PodList
 		err := client.Resources().List(ctx, agentPods, resources.WithLabelSelector("k8s-app=konnectivity-agent"))
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent pods: %v", err)
+			t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent pods (label selector 'k8s-app=konnectivity-agent'): %v", err)
 		}
 
 		for _, agentPod := range agentPods.Items {
 			numConnections, err := getMetricsGaugeValue(fmt.Sprintf("%v:%v/metrics", agentPod.Status.PodIP, adminPort), "konnectivity_network_proxy_agent_open_server_connections")
 			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent metric 'konnectivity_network_proxy_agent_open_server_connections' for pod %v", agentPod.Name)
+				t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent metric 'konnectivity_network_proxy_agent_open_server_connections' for pod %v: %v", agentPod.Name, err)
 			}
 
 			if numConnections != expectedConnections {
-				t.Errorf("incorrect number of connected servers (want: %v, got: %v)", expectedConnections, numConnections)
+				t.Errorf("incorrect number of connected servers (want: %d, got: %d)", expectedConnections, numConnections)
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -66,17 +66,17 @@ func assertServersAreConnected(expectedConnections int, adminPort int) func(cont
 		var serverPods *corev1.PodList
 		err := client.Resources().List(ctx, serverPods, resources.WithLabelSelector("k8s-app=konnectivity-server"))
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("couldn't get server pods: %v", err)
+			t.Fatalf("couldn't get server pods (label selector 'k8s-app=konnectivity-server'): %v", err)
 		}
 
 		for _, serverPod := range serverPods.Items {
 			numConnections, err := getMetricsGaugeValue(fmt.Sprintf("%v:%v/metrics", serverPod.Status.PodIP, adminPort), "konnectivity_network_proxy_server_ready_backend_connections")
 			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent metric 'konnectivity_network_proxy_server_ready_backend_connections' for pod %v", serverPod.Name)
+				t.Fatalf("couldn't get agent metric 'konnectivity_network_proxy_server_ready_backend_connections' for pod %v: %v", serverPod.Name, err)
 			}
 
 			if numConnections != expectedConnections {
-				t.Errorf("incorrect number of connected agents (want: %v, got: %v)", expectedConnections, numConnections)
+				t.Errorf("incorrect number of connected agents (want: %d, got: %d)", expectedConnections, numConnections)
 			}
 		}