diff --git a/tests/e2e/standalone/utils.go b/tests/e2e/standalone/utils.go
index 4eff6287b..4f57615fd 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/standalone/utils.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/standalone/utils.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -101,10 +102,38 @@ func executeAgainstRunningDapr(t *testing.T, f func(), daprArgs ...string) {
 	daprPath := common.GetDaprPath()
 
 	cmd := exec.Command(daprPath, daprArgs...)
-	reader, _ := cmd.StdoutPipe()
-	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(reader)
+	stdoutReader, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "failed to get stdout pipe for dapr")
+	stderrReader, err := cmd.StderrPipe()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "failed to get stderr pipe for dapr")
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(stdoutReader)
+
+	err = cmd.Start()
+	require.NoError(t, err, "failed to start dapr")
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	var stderrOutput strings.Builder
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		stderrScanner := bufio.NewScanner(stderrReader)
+		for stderrScanner.Scan() {
+			line := stderrScanner.Text()
+			t.Log(line)
+			stderrOutput.WriteString(line + "\n")
+		}
+		if err := stderrScanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("error while reading dapr stderr: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
 
-	cmd.Start()
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		if cmd.Process != nil {
+			_ = cmd.Process.Kill()
+			_ = cmd.Wait()
+		}
+		wg.Wait()
+	})
 
 	daprOutput := ""
 	for scanner.Scan() {
@@ -113,25 +142,27 @@ func executeAgainstRunningDapr(t *testing.T, f func(), daprArgs ...string) {
 		if strings.Contains(outputChunk, "You're up and running!") {
 			f()
 		}
-		daprOutput += outputChunk
+		daprOutput += outputChunk + "\n"
 	}
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("error while reading dapr stdout: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	wg.Wait()
+	daprOutput += stderrOutput.String()
 
-	err := cmd.Wait()
-	hasAppCommand := !strings.Contains(daprOutput, "WARNING: no application command found")
+	err = cmd.Wait()
 	if err != nil {
 		var exitErr *exec.ExitError
 		if errors.As(err, &exitErr) && exitErr.ExitCode() == 1 &&
 			strings.Contains(daprOutput, "Exited Dapr successfully") &&
-			(!hasAppCommand || strings.Contains(daprOutput, "Exited App successfully")) {
+			!strings.Contains(daprOutput, "The App process exited with error") {
 			err = nil
 		}
 	}
 	require.NoError(t, err, "dapr didn't exit cleanly")
-	assert.NotContains(t, daprOutput, "The App process exited with error code: exit status", "Stop command should have been called before the app had a chance to exit")
+	assert.NotContains(t, daprOutput, "The App process exited with error", "Stop command should have been called before the app had a chance to exit")
 	assert.Contains(t, daprOutput, "Exited Dapr successfully")
-	if hasAppCommand {
-		assert.Contains(t, daprOutput, "Exited App successfully")
-	}
 }
 
 // ensureDaprInstallation ensures that Dapr is installed.