diff --git a/test/cases/nvidia/manifests/daemonset-containerd-check.yaml b/test/cases/nvidia/manifests/daemonset-containerd-check.yaml
index 01f1083bc..94c4aae7a 100644
--- a/test/cases/nvidia/manifests/daemonset-containerd-check.yaml
+++ b/test/cases/nvidia/manifests/daemonset-containerd-check.yaml
@@ -28,17 +28,34 @@ spec:
           echo "=== content read by the container ==="
           cat /host-etc/containerd/config.toml
 
-          # 2. Attempt to extract 'sandbox_image' from the config
-          #    If grep returns nothing, pipefail triggers an error
-          #    OR you can explicitly check if the variable is empty
-          source <(grep sandbox_image /host-etc/containerd/config.toml | tr -d ' "')
+          # 2. Check containerd config version and look for appropriate sandbox field
+          #    In containerd config version = 2 expect to find pattern `sandbox_image = "registry.k8s.io/pause:3.10.1"`
+          #    In containerd config version = 3 expect to find pattern `sandbox = "registry.k8s.io/pause:3.10.1"`
+          #    For more details: https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/main/docs/cri/config.md
+          version_line=$(grep -E '^version\s*=' /host-etc/containerd/config.toml || true)
+          if [ -z "$version_line" ]; then
+            echo "FAIL: no version line found in containerd config"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          version=$(echo "$version_line" | cut -d'=' -f2 | tr -d ' ')
+          echo "INFO: containerd config version = $version"
+          if [ "$version" = "2" ]; then
+            sandbox_line=$(grep -E 'sandbox_image\s*=' /host-etc/containerd/config.toml || true)
+          elif [ "$version" = "3" ]; then
+            sandbox_line=$(grep -E 'sandbox\s*=' /host-etc/containerd/config.toml || true)
+          else
+            echo "FAIL: unsupported containerd config version: $version"
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
-          # 3. If sandbox_image is missing, fail explicitly
-          if [ -z "$sandbox_image" ]; then
-            echo "FAIL: no sandbox_image line found"
+          # 3. If no sandbox configuration is found, fail explicitly
+          if [ -z "$sandbox_line" ]; then
+            echo "FAIL: no sandbox_image or sandbox line found"
             echo "=== debug ==="
             exit 1
           fi
+          sandbox_image=$(echo "$sandbox_line" | cut -d'"' -f2)
 
           # 4. Check that $sandbox_image references .ecr. or is provided on the instance
           if [[ "$sandbox_image" == "localhost"* ]]; then