diff --git a/e2e/gcp_helpers.go b/e2e/gcp_helpers.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..062f42af9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/gcp_helpers.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Red Hat, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// 	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package e2e
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	"github.com/openshift/cluster-capi-operator/e2e/framework"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+	gcpv1 "sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-gcp/api/v1beta1"
+)
+
+// verifyCAPIInstanceOwnershipLabel asserts that the GCPCluster has the
+// kubernetes-io-cluster-<infraName>=owned label that openshift-install destroy cluster
+// relies on to identify and clean up cloud resources.
+func verifyCAPIInstanceOwnershipLabel(infraName string) {
+	GinkgoHelper()
+	By("Verifying GCPCluster has cluster ownership label")
+
+	Expect(infraName).ToNot(BeEmpty())
+
+	gcpCluster := &gcpv1.GCPCluster{}
+	key := types.NamespacedName{Name: infraName, Namespace: framework.CAPINamespace}
+	Expect(cl.Get(ctx, key, gcpCluster)).To(Succeed(), "should be able to get GCPCluster %s", infraName)
+
+	expectedLabelKey := fmt.Sprintf("kubernetes-io-cluster-%s", infraName)
+	Expect(gcpCluster.Spec.AdditionalLabels).ToNot(BeNil(),
+		"expected GCPCluster to have AdditionalLabels set")
+	Expect(gcpCluster.Spec.AdditionalLabels).To(HaveKeyWithValue(expectedLabelKey, "owned"),
+		"expected GCPCluster to have label %s=owned for cluster destroy to find CAPI-created resources", expectedLabelKey)
+}
diff --git a/e2e/gcp_test.go b/e2e/gcp_test.go
index 3e72ab58f..57f81531d 100644
--- a/e2e/gcp_test.go
+++ b/e2e/gcp_test.go
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ var _ = Describe("Cluster API GCP MachineSet", Ordered, func() {
 		))
 
 		framework.WaitForMachineSet(ctx, cl, machineSet.Name, machineSet.Namespace, framework.WaitLong)
+
+		verifyCAPIInstanceOwnershipLabel(clusterName)
 	})
 })