diff --git a/e2e/release/src/pre-version-command.test.ts b/e2e/release/src/pre-version-command.test.ts
index 95a579f955d54..68ceb9269869f 100644
--- a/e2e/release/src/pre-version-command.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/release/src/pre-version-command.test.ts
@@ -88,51 +88,11 @@ describe('nx release pre-version command', () => {
     expect(result3).toContain('nx run-many -t build');
     expect(result3).toContain(`NX   Running target build for project ${pkg1}:`);
 
-    updateJson(`nx.json`, (json) => {
-      json.release = {
-        version: {
-          preVersionCommand: 'echo "error" && exit 1',
-        },
-      };
-      return json;
-    });
-
-    // command should fail because the pre-version command will fail
-    const result4 = runCLI('release patch -d --first-release', {
-      silenceError: true,
-    });
-    expect(result4).toContain(
-      'NX   The pre-version command failed. Retry with --verbose to see the full output of the pre-version command.'
-    );
-    expect(result4).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
-
-    const result5 = runCLI('release patch -d --first-release --verbose', {
-      silenceError: true,
-    });
-    expect(result5).toContain(
-      'NX   The pre-version command failed. See the full output above.'
-    );
-    expect(result4).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
-  });
-
-  it('should run pre-version command before group versioning step', async () => {
-    updateJson(`nx.json`, (json) => {
-      delete json.release;
-      return json;
-    });
-    const result1 = runCLI('release patch -d --first-release', {
-      silenceError: true,
-    });
-
-    // command should fail because @nx/js:library configures the packageRoot to be dist/{project-name}, which doesn't exist yet
-    expect(result1).toContain(
-      `NX   The project "${pkg1}" does not have a package.json available at dist/${pkg1}/package.json.`
-    );
-
+    const groupName = uniq('group-1');
     updateJson(`nx.json`, (json) => {
       json.release = {
         groups: {
-          'group-1': {
+          [groupName]: {
             projects: [pkg1],
             version: {
               preVersionCommand: `nx run-many -t build -p ${pkg1}`,
@@ -144,51 +104,34 @@ describe('nx release pre-version command', () => {
     });
 
     // command should succeed because the pre-version command will build the package
-    const result2 = runCLI('release patch -d -g group-1 --first-release');
-
-    expect(result2).toContain('NX   Executing pre-version command');
+    const result4 = runCLI(`release patch -d -g ${groupName} --first-release`);
 
-    const result3 = runCLI(
-      'release patch -d -g group-1 --first-release --verbose'
-    );
-
-    expect(result3).toContain('NX   Executing pre-version command');
-    expect(result3).toContain('Executing the following pre-version command:');
-    expect(result3).toContain(`nx run-many -t build -p ${pkg1}`);
-    expect(result3).toContain(`NX   Running target build for project ${pkg1}:`);
+    expect(result4).toContain('NX   Executing pre-version command');
 
     updateJson(`nx.json`, (json) => {
       json.release = {
-        groups: {
-          'group-1': {
-            projects: [pkg1],
-            version: {
-              preVersionCommand: `echo "error" && exit 1`,
-            },
-          },
+        version: {
+          preVersionCommand: 'echo "error" && exit 1',
         },
       };
       return json;
     });
 
     // command should fail because the pre-version command will fail
-    const result4 = runCLI('release patch -d -g group-1 --first-release', {
+    const result5 = runCLI('release patch -d --first-release', {
       silenceError: true,
     });
-    expect(result4).toContain(
+    expect(result5).toContain(
       'NX   The pre-version command failed. Retry with --verbose to see the full output of the pre-version command.'
     );
-    expect(result4).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
+    expect(result5).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
 
-    const result5 = runCLI(
-      'release patch -d -g group-1 --first-release --verbose',
-      {
-        silenceError: true,
-      }
-    );
-    expect(result5).toContain(
+    const result6 = runCLI('release patch -d --first-release --verbose', {
+      silenceError: true,
+    });
+    expect(result6).toContain(
       'NX   The pre-version command failed. See the full output above.'
     );
-    expect(result4).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
+    expect(result6).toContain('echo "error" && exit 1');
   });
 });