diff --git a/e2e/service.go b/e2e/service.go
index 53e24d0..195e9a3 100644
--- a/e2e/service.go
+++ b/e2e/service.go
@@ -155,14 +155,6 @@ func (s *Service) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not validate end-to-end topic: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Get up-to-date metadata and inform our custom partitioner about the partition count
-	topicMetadata, err := s.getTopicMetadata(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not get topic metadata after validation: %w", err)
-	}
-	partitions := len(topicMetadata.Topics[0].Partitions)
-	s.partitionCount = partitions
-
 	// finally start everything else (producing, consuming, continuous validation, consumer group tracking)
 	go s.startReconciliation(ctx)
 
diff --git a/e2e/topic.go b/e2e/topic.go
index d54291a..57e7b0a 100644
--- a/e2e/topic.go
+++ b/e2e/topic.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package e2e
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"math"
 	"time"
 
@@ -68,7 +69,41 @@ func (s *Service) validateManagementTopic(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create partitions: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	return nil
+	return s.updatePartitionCount(ctx)
+}
+
+// The partition count must be updated after topic validation because the validation process may lead to the 
+// creation of new partitions. This can occur when new brokers are added to the cluster.
+func (s *Service) updatePartitionCount(ctx context.Context) error {
+	retryTicker := time.NewTicker(1 * time.Second)
+	defer retryTicker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return ctx.Err()
+		case <-retryTicker.C:
+			meta, err := s.getTopicMetadata(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("could not get topic metadata while updating partition count: %w", err)
+			}
+
+			typedErr := kerr.TypedErrorForCode(meta.Topics[0].ErrorCode)
+			if typedErr == nil {
+				s.partitionCount = len(meta.Topics[0].Partitions)
+				s.logger.Debug("updatePartitionCount: successfully updated partition count", zap.Int("partition_count", s.partitionCount))
+				return nil
+			}
+			if !errors.Is(typedErr, kerr.UnknownTopicOrPartition) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unexpected error while updating partition count: %w", typedErr)
+			}
+			s.logger.Warn("updatePartitionCount: received UNKNOWN_TOPIC_OR_PARTITION error, possibly due to timing issue. Retrying...")
+			// The UNKNOWN_TOPIC_OR_PARTITION error occurs occasionally even though the topic is created 
+			// in the validateManagementTopic function. It appears to be a timing issue where the topic metadata 
+			// is not immediately available after creation. In practice, waiting for a short period and then retrying 
+			// the operation resolves the issue.
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 func (s *Service) executeCreatePartitions(ctx context.Context, req *kmsg.CreatePartitionsRequest) error {