diff --git a/test/e2e/networks/ci.toml b/test/e2e/networks/ci.toml
index fbf6ef067..879d0c22f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/networks/ci.toml
+++ b/test/e2e/networks/ci.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ validator05 = 50
 [node.seed01]
 mode = "seed"
 seeds = ["seed02"]
+perturb = ["restart"]
 
 [node.seed02]
 mode = "seed"
diff --git a/test/e2e/runner/perturb.go b/test/e2e/runner/perturb.go
index 5194b70a6..50c9f67a7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/runner/perturb.go
+++ b/test/e2e/runner/perturb.go
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ func PerturbNode(node *e2e.Node, perturbation e2e.Perturbation) (*rpctypes.Resul
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected perturbation %q", perturbation)
 	}
 
+	// Seed nodes do not have an RPC endpoint exposed so we cannot assert that
+	// the node recovered. All we can do is hope.
+	if node.Mode == e2e.ModeSeed {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	status, err := waitForNode(node, 0, 10*time.Second)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err