diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7f5ad13f..622806ee 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ test: lint unit e2e
 e2e:
 	KILO_IMAGE=squat/kilo:test bash_unit $(BASH_UNIT_FLAGS) ./e2e/setup.sh ./e2e/full-mesh.sh ./e2e/location-mesh.sh ./e2e/cross-mesh.sh ./e2e/multi-cluster.sh ./e2e/handlers.sh ./e2e/kgctl.sh ./e2e/teardown.sh
 
+# e2e-cilium runs the Kilo --compatibility=cilium e2e suite against a
+# kind cluster where Cilium provides the CNI. It is a separate target
+# from `e2e` because the Cilium cluster is incompatible with the Kilo
+# bridge CNI used by the default suite.
+e2e-cilium:
+	KILO_IMAGE=squat/kilo:test bash_unit $(BASH_UNIT_FLAGS) ./e2e/cilium-setup.sh ./e2e/cilium-cross-mesh.sh ./e2e/cilium-teardown.sh
+
 docs/kg.md:
 	go run ./cmd/kg/... --help | head -n -2 > help.txt
 	go tool embedmd -w docs/kg.md
diff --git a/e2e/cilium-cross-mesh.sh b/e2e/cilium-cross-mesh.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..1732e790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/cilium-cross-mesh.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+. lib.sh
+
+# Cilium-CNI counterpart of e2e/cross-mesh.sh. The Kilo DaemonSet is the
+# one applied by create_cilium_cluster (kilo-kind-cilium.yaml), which
+# already runs Kilo with --cni=false --compatibility=cilium. This suite
+# only annotates locations and switches granularity to "cross".
+setup_suite() {
+	_kubectl annotate node "$KIND_CLUSTER-control-plane" kilo.squat.ai/location=loc-a --overwrite
+	_kubectl annotate node "$KIND_CLUSTER-worker"        kilo.squat.ai/location=loc-a --overwrite
+	_kubectl annotate node "$KIND_CLUSTER-worker2"       kilo.squat.ai/location=loc-b --overwrite
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2016
+	_kubectl patch ds -n kube-system kilo -p '{"spec":{"template":{"spec":{"containers":[{"name":"kilo","args":["--hostname=$(NODE_NAME)","--create-interface=false","--cni=false","--compatibility=cilium","--mesh-granularity=cross","--kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig","--internal-cidr=$(NODE_IP)/32"]}]}}}}'
+	block_until_ready_by_name kube-system kilo-userspace
+}
+
+test_cilium_cross_mesh_connectivity() {
+	assert "retry 30 5 '' check_ping" "should be able to ping all Pods over Cilium VXLAN + Kilo cross mesh"
+	assert "retry 10 5 'the adjacency matrix is not complete yet' check_adjacent 3" "adjacency should return the right number of successful pings"
+	echo "sleep for 30s (one reconciliation period) and try again..."
+	sleep 30
+	assert "retry 10 5 'the adjacency matrix is not complete yet' check_adjacent 3" "adjacency should return the right number of successful pings after reconciling"
+}
+
+test_cilium_cross_peer_topology() {
+	local CP_PEERS WORKER_PEERS WORKER2_PEERS
+	CP_PEERS=$(_kgctl showconf node "$KIND_CLUSTER-control-plane" | grep -c '^\[Peer\]')
+	WORKER_PEERS=$(_kgctl showconf node "$KIND_CLUSTER-worker"        | grep -c '^\[Peer\]')
+	WORKER2_PEERS=$(_kgctl showconf node "$KIND_CLUSTER-worker2"      | grep -c '^\[Peer\]')
+	assert_equals "1" "$CP_PEERS"      "control-plane (loc-a) should have 1 peer (the loc-b node)"
+	assert_equals "1" "$WORKER_PEERS"  "worker (loc-a) should have 1 peer (the loc-b node)"
+	assert_equals "2" "$WORKER2_PEERS" "worker2 (loc-b) should have 2 peers (both loc-a nodes)"
+}
diff --git a/e2e/cilium-setup.sh b/e2e/cilium-setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..6ba03634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/cilium-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+. lib.sh
+
+# Bring up a kind cluster with Cilium as the CNI for the Cilium-mode e2e
+# suite. Counterpart of e2e/setup.sh, which provisions a cluster that
+# uses the Kilo bridge CNI.
+setup_suite() {
+	create_cilium_cluster "$(build_kind_config 2)"
+}
diff --git a/e2e/cilium-teardown.sh b/e2e/cilium-teardown.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..4be4f76d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/cilium-teardown.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+. lib.sh
+
+teardown_suite () {
+	if [ -n "$E2E_SKIP_TEARDOWN_ON_FAILURE" ]; then
+		return
+	fi
+	delete_cluster
+}
diff --git a/e2e/kilo-kind-cilium.yaml b/e2e/kilo-kind-cilium.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b010447e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/kilo-kind-cilium.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ServiceAccount
+metadata:
+  name: kilo
+  namespace: kube-system
+---
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: ClusterRole
+metadata:
+  name: kilo
+rules:
+- apiGroups:
+  - ""
+  resources:
+  - nodes
+  verbs:
+  - list
+  - patch
+  - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - kilo.squat.ai
+  resources:
+  - peers
+  verbs:
+  - list
+  - watch
+- apiGroups:
+  - apiextensions.k8s.io
+  resources:
+  - customresourcedefinitions
+  verbs:
+  - get
+---
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: ClusterRoleBinding
+metadata:
+  name: kilo
+roleRef:
+  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+  kind: ClusterRole
+  name: kilo
+subjects:
+- kind: ServiceAccount
+  name: kilo
+  namespace: kube-system
+---
+# Kilo DaemonSet for the Cilium e2e suite. The CNI is provided by Cilium
+# (no kilo CNI ConfigMap and no install-cni init container), so Kilo runs
+# in --cni=false / --compatibility=cilium mode and only manages the WG mesh
+# on top of Cilium's overlay.
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: DaemonSet
+metadata:
+  name: kilo
+  namespace: kube-system
+  labels:
+    app.kubernetes.io/name: kilo-userspace
+    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: kilo
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app.kubernetes.io/name: kilo-userspace
+      app.kubernetes.io/part-of: kilo
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: kilo-userspace
+        app.kubernetes.io/part-of: kilo
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: kilo
+      hostNetwork: true
+      containers:
+      - name: kilo
+        image: squat/kilo:test
+        imagePullPolicy: Never
+        args:
+        - --hostname=$(NODE_NAME)
+        - --create-interface=false
+        - --cni=false
+        - --compatibility=cilium
+        - --mesh-granularity=full
+        - --kubeconfig=/etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig
+        - --internal-cidr=$(NODE_IP)/32
+        env:
+        - name: NODE_NAME
+          valueFrom:
+            fieldRef:
+              fieldPath: spec.nodeName
+        - name: NODE_IP
+          valueFrom:
+            fieldRef:
+              fieldPath: status.hostIP
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 1107
+          name: metrics
+        securityContext:
+          privileged: true
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: kilo-dir
+          mountPath: /var/lib/kilo
+        - name: lib-modules
+          mountPath: /lib/modules
+          readOnly: true
+        - name: xtables-lock
+          mountPath: /run/xtables.lock
+          readOnly: false
+        - name: wireguard
+          mountPath: /var/run/wireguard
+          readOnly: false
+        - name: kubeconfig
+          mountPath: /etc/kubernetes
+          readOnly: true
+      - name: wireguard
+        image: ghcr.io/masipcat/wireguard-go-docker:0.0.20230223
+        args:
+        - wireguard-go
+        - --foreground
+        - kilo0
+        securityContext:
+          privileged: true
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: wireguard
+          mountPath: /var/run/wireguard
+          readOnly: false
+      tolerations:
+      - effect: NoSchedule
+        operator: Exists
+      - effect: NoExecute
+        operator: Exists
+      volumes:
+      - name: kilo-dir
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/lib/kilo
+      - name: lib-modules
+        hostPath:
+          path: /lib/modules
+      - name: xtables-lock
+        hostPath:
+          path: /run/xtables.lock
+          type: FileOrCreate
+      - name: wireguard
+        hostPath:
+          path: /var/run/wireguard
+      - name: kubeconfig
+        secret:
+          secretName: kubeconfig
diff --git a/e2e/lib.sh b/e2e/lib.sh
index 9fc9e776..99370c53 100755
--- a/e2e/lib.sh
+++ b/e2e/lib.sh
@@ -142,6 +142,55 @@ delete_cluster () {
 	_kind delete clusters $KIND_CLUSTER
 }
 
+# install_cilium installs Cilium via Helm into the current kind cluster
+# using a minimal config: VXLAN overlay, Kubernetes IPAM, host firewall off.
+# Kube-proxy replacement is intentionally left at the default (off) to
+# keep the e2e harness focused on Kilo's --compatibility=cilium path
+# rather than Cilium's eBPF service LB; KPR coverage can be added in a
+# follow-up.
+install_cilium() {
+	local CILIUM_VERSION="${CILIUM_VERSION:-1.16.5}"
+	helm repo add cilium https://helm.cilium.io/ >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+	helm repo update cilium >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+	helm --kubeconfig="$KUBECONFIG" install cilium cilium/cilium \
+		--namespace kube-system \
+		--version "$CILIUM_VERSION" \
+		--set ipam.mode=kubernetes \
+		--set tunnelProtocol=vxlan \
+		--set hostFirewall.enabled=false \
+		--set image.pullPolicy=IfNotPresent \
+		--set rollOutCiliumPods=true \
+		--wait
+}
+
+# create_cilium_cluster launches a kind cluster, installs Cilium as the CNI,
+# deploys Kilo in --compatibility=cilium mode, and brings up Adjacency +
+# the curl helper, mirroring create_cluster.
+create_cilium_cluster() {
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2119
+	local CONFIG="${1:-$(build_kind_config)}"
+	_kind delete clusters $KIND_CLUSTER > /dev/null
+	_kind create cluster --name $KIND_CLUSTER --config <(echo "$CONFIG")
+	# Cilium needs to be installed before any pod that requires CNI networking
+	# can become Ready, so install it first.
+	install_cilium
+	block_until_ready kube-system k8s-app=cilium
+	_kubectl wait nodes --all --for=condition=Ready --timeout=120s
+	block_until_ready kube_system k8s-app=kube-dns
+	# Load the Kilo image into kind and apply the Cilium-mode manifest.
+	docker tag "$KILO_IMAGE" squat/kilo:test
+	$KIND_BINARY load docker-image squat/kilo:test --name $KIND_CLUSTER
+	_kubectl create secret generic kubeconfig --from-file=kubeconfig="$KUBECONFIG" -n kube-system
+	_kubectl apply -f ../manifests/crds.yaml
+	_kubectl apply -f kilo-kind-cilium.yaml
+	if ! block_until_ready_by_name kube-system kilo-userspace; then return 1; fi
+	_kubectl apply -f helper-curl.yaml
+	block_until_ready_by_name default curl || return 1
+	_kubectl taint node $KIND_CLUSTER-control-plane node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane:NoSchedule-
+	_kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kilo-io/adjacency/main/example.yaml
+	block_until_ready_by_name default adjacency
+}
+
 curl_pod() {
 	_kubectl get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=curl -o name | xargs -I{} "$KUBECTL_BINARY" --kubeconfig="$KUBECONFIG" exec {} -- /usr/bin/curl "$@"
 }