diff --git a/pkg/services/vmoperator/vmopmachine_test.go b/pkg/services/vmoperator/vmopmachine_test.go
index 7f1fc77b69..fc049788d1 100644
--- a/pkg/services/vmoperator/vmopmachine_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/vmoperator/vmopmachine_test.go
@@ -547,16 +547,8 @@ var _ = Describe("VirtualMachine tests", func() {
 			requeue, err = vmService.ReconcileNormal(ctx)
 			// There is no GC behavior in the unit test environment, so simulate it
 			vmService.deleteFunc = func(vm *vmoprv1.VirtualMachine) error {
-				if vm.GetFinalizers() == nil {
-					if err := ctx.Client.Delete(ctx, vm); err != nil {
-						return err
-					}
-				} else {
-					timeNow := metav1.Now()
-					vm.SetDeletionTimestamp(&timeNow)
-					if err := ctx.Client.Update(ctx, vm); err != nil {
-						return err
-					}
+				if err := ctx.Client.Delete(ctx, vm); err != nil {
+					return err
 				}
 				return nil
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/util/testutil.go b/pkg/util/testutil.go
index 456f11cb12..ab3a298ad7 100644
--- a/pkg/util/testutil.go
+++ b/pkg/util/testutil.go
@@ -155,7 +155,10 @@ func CreateClusterContext(cluster *clusterv1.Cluster, vsphereCluster *infrav1.VS
 		Context: goctx.Background(),
 		Logger:  klog.Background().WithName("controller-manager-logger"),
 		Scheme:  scheme,
-		Client:  testclient.NewClientBuilder().WithScheme(scheme).Build(),
+		Client: testclient.NewClientBuilder().WithScheme(scheme).WithStatusSubresource(
+			&vmoprv1.VirtualMachineService{},
+			&vmoprv1.VirtualMachine{},
+		).Build(),
 	}
 
 	// Build the controller context.