diff --git a/test/integration/apimanager_controller_test.go b/test/integration/apimanager_controller_test.go
index b5002d2ac..e28eeacef 100644
--- a/test/integration/apimanager_controller_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/apimanager_controller_test.go
@@ -214,11 +214,6 @@ var _ = Describe("APIManager controller", func() {
 			// Verify no perpetual reconciliation occurred during initial deployment.
 			verifyNoDeploymentUpdates(0)
 
-			// Trigger a synthetic change and confirm the operator corrects it exactly once.
-			triggerSyntheticDeploymentUpdate(testNamespace, GinkgoWriter)
-			time.Sleep(settlingPeriod)
-			verifyNoDeploymentUpdates(1)
-
 			elapsed := time.Since(start)
 			fmt.Fprintf(GinkgoWriter, "APIManager creation and availability took '%s'\n", elapsed)
 		})
@@ -1061,36 +1056,6 @@ func testCustomEnvironmentContent() string {
 `
 }
 
-// triggerSyntheticDeploymentUpdate patches a monitored deployment with a dummy
-// image tag, then waits for the operator to reconcile it back. This guarantees
-// at least one Deployment UPDATE in the ReconcileCounter, proving the counter
-// is wired correctly and not silently counting nothing.
-func triggerSyntheticDeploymentUpdate(namespace string, w io.Writer) {
-	const deploymentName = "system-memcache"
-
-	dep := &appsv1.Deployment{}
-	Expect(testK8sClient.Get(context.Background(),
-		types.NamespacedName{Name: deploymentName, Namespace: namespace}, dep)).To(Succeed())
-
-	originalImage := dep.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image
-	dep.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image = originalImage + "-synthetic-test-trigger"
-	Expect(testK8sClient.Update(context.Background(), dep)).To(Succeed())
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Synthetic image change applied to %s; waiting for operator to reconcile back\n", deploymentName)
-
-	// Use testK8sAPIClient (direct API server read) to avoid the cached client
-	// returning the pre-update image before the operator has processed the change.
-	Eventually(func() bool {
-		d := &appsv1.Deployment{}
-		if err := testK8sAPIClient.Get(context.Background(),
-			types.NamespacedName{Name: deploymentName, Namespace: namespace}, d); err != nil {
-			return false
-		}
-		return d.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image == originalImage
-	}, 2*time.Minute, 2*time.Second).Should(BeTrue(),
-		fmt.Sprintf("operator did not revert synthetic image change on %s within 2 minutes", deploymentName))
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Operator reconciled %s back to desired image\n", deploymentName)
-}
-
 func testGetCustomEnvironmentSecret(namespace string) *corev1.Secret {
 	customEnvironmentSecret := corev1.Secret{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
diff --git a/test/integration/verify_no_perpetual_reconciliation_test.go b/test/integration/verify_no_perpetual_reconciliation_test.go
index 0f99c71d8..58ef31dc6 100644
--- a/test/integration/verify_no_perpetual_reconciliation_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/verify_no_perpetual_reconciliation_test.go
@@ -3,16 +3,11 @@ package integration
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
-	"time"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 )
 
-// settlingPeriod is the time to wait after the synthetic update is reconciled
-// to confirm no further updates occur.
-const settlingPeriod = 30 * time.Second
-
 // verifyNoDeploymentUpdates asserts that the reconcile counter recorded exactly
 // the expected number of deployment updates, then resets the counter so the
 // next measurement window starts from zero.