diff --git a/frontend/e2e/setup/admin-auth-refresh.setup.ts b/frontend/e2e/setup/admin-auth-refresh.setup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..46d72aba752
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/e2e/setup/admin-auth-refresh.setup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+import { test as setup } from '@playwright/test';
+
+import { performLogin, saveStorageState } from './login-helper';
+
+const adminStorageState = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..', '.auth', 'kubeadmin.json');
+
+setup('refresh kubeadmin session', async ({ page }) => {
+  setup.skip(process.env.SKIP_GLOBAL_SETUP === 'true', 'SKIP_GLOBAL_SETUP is set');
+
+  const baseURL = process.env.WEB_CONSOLE_URL || 'http://localhost:9000';
+  const username = process.env.OPENSHIFT_USERNAME || 'kubeadmin';
+  const password = process.env.BRIDGE_KUBEADMIN_PASSWORD || '';
+
+  await performLogin(page, baseURL, username, password, 'kube:admin');
+  await saveStorageState(page, adminStorageState);
+});
diff --git a/frontend/playwright.config.ts b/frontend/playwright.config.ts
index e301d244394..851060840d3 100644
--- a/frontend/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/frontend/playwright.config.ts
@@ -15,16 +15,8 @@ const adminStorageState = path.resolve(__dirname, 'e2e', '.auth', 'kubeadmin.jso
 const developerStorageState = path.resolve(__dirname, 'e2e', '.auth', 'developer.json');
 const hasDeveloper = !!process.env.BRIDGE_HTPASSWD_USERNAME;
 
-const packages = [
-  'smoke',
-  'console',
-  'dev-console',
-  'helm',
-  'knative',
-  'olm',
-  'topology',
-  'webterminal',
-];
+const earlyPackages = ['smoke', 'console'];
+const latePackages = ['dev-console', 'helm', 'knative', 'olm', 'topology', 'webterminal'];
 
 // Packages that also have developer-persona tests
 const devPackages = ['smoke', 'dev-console', 'topology', 'webterminal'];
@@ -127,7 +119,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
       testMatch: 'teardown.setup.ts',
     },
 
-    ...packages.map((pkg) => ({
+    ...earlyPackages.map((pkg) => ({
       name: pkg,
       testDir: path.resolve(__dirname, 'e2e', 'tests', pkg),
       testIgnore: '**/developer/**',
@@ -137,6 +129,29 @@ export default defineConfig({
         storageState: adminStorageState,
       },
     })),
+    {
+      name: 'admin-auth-refresh',
+      testDir: path.resolve(__dirname, 'e2e', 'setup'),
+      testMatch: 'admin-auth-refresh.setup.ts',
+      dependencies: earlyPackages,
+      use: {
+        ...chrome,
+        ignoreHTTPSErrors: true,
+        launchOptions: {
+          args: chromeArgs,
+        },
+      },
+    },
+    ...latePackages.map((pkg) => ({
+      name: pkg,
+      testDir: path.resolve(__dirname, 'e2e', 'tests', pkg),
+      testIgnore: '**/developer/**',
+      dependencies: ['admin-auth-refresh'],
+      use: {
+        ...chrome,
+        storageState: adminStorageState,
+      },
+    })),
     ...(hasDeveloper
       ? devPackages.map((pkg) => ({
           name: `${pkg}-developer`,