diff --git a/codegen/aws-sdk-codegen/src/main/kotlin/aws/sdk/kotlin/codegen/GradleGenerator.kt b/codegen/aws-sdk-codegen/src/main/kotlin/aws/sdk/kotlin/codegen/GradleGenerator.kt
index 8d6d75b6bef..f4c837cd188 100644
--- a/codegen/aws-sdk-codegen/src/main/kotlin/aws/sdk/kotlin/codegen/GradleGenerator.kt
+++ b/codegen/aws-sdk-codegen/src/main/kotlin/aws/sdk/kotlin/codegen/GradleGenerator.kt
@@ -121,9 +121,12 @@ class GradleGenerator : KotlinIntegration {
     private fun generateSmokeTestTask(writer: GradleWriter, ctx: CodegenContext) {
         val hasSuccessResponseTrait = ctx.model.expectShape<ServiceShape>(ctx.settings.service).hasTrait(SuccessResponseTrait.ID)
         val hasFailedResponseTrait = ctx.model.expectShape<ServiceShape>(ctx.settings.service).hasTrait(FailedResponseTrait.ID)
-
-        // E2E tests don't have sdkVersion in jar names
         val inTestingEnvironment = hasFailedResponseTrait || hasSuccessResponseTrait
+
+        /**
+         * E2E tests don't have sdkVersion in jar names. They're added later for publishing.
+         * @see SmokeTestE2ETest
+         */
         val jarName = if (inTestingEnvironment) "\${project.name}-smoketests.jar" else "\${project.name}-smoketests-\$sdkVersion.jar"
 
         writer.withBlock("tasks.register<JavaExec>(#S) {", "}", "smokeTest") {
diff --git a/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/build.gradle.kts b/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/build.gradle.kts
index 891a16b5ecd..51f7afffbbe 100644
--- a/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/build.gradle.kts
@@ -27,10 +27,12 @@ fun configureProject() {
 
     dependencies {
         codegen(project(":codegen:aws-sdk-codegen"))
-        implementation(libs.smithy.kotlin.codegen)
         codegen(libs.smithy.cli)
         codegen(libs.smithy.model)
 
+        implementation(libs.smithy.kotlin.codegen)
+        implementation("org.gradle:gradle-tooling-api:+")
+
         testImplementation(libs.kotlin.test)
     }
 }
@@ -93,6 +95,12 @@ fun configureTasks() {
     tasks.build {
         dependsOn(tasks.getByName("stageServices"))
     }
+
+    tasks.clean {
+        this@Build_gradle.projections.forEach { projection ->
+            delete("services/${projection.name}")
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/src/test/kotlin/SmokeTestE2ETest.kt b/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/src/test/kotlin/SmokeTestE2ETest.kt
index 759ce838b75..f57c68b3a89 100644
--- a/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/src/test/kotlin/SmokeTestE2ETest.kt
+++ b/tests/codegen/smoke-tests/src/test/kotlin/SmokeTestE2ETest.kt
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
+import org.gradle.tooling.GradleConnector
 import software.amazon.smithy.kotlin.codegen.rendering.smoketests.SERVICE_FILTER
 import software.amazon.smithy.kotlin.codegen.rendering.smoketests.SKIP_TAGS
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream
 import java.io.File
 import kotlin.test.*
 
 class SmokeTestE2ETest {
     @Test
     fun successService() {
-        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests("successService")
+        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests()
 
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTest - no error expected from service")
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTestWithTags - no error expected from service")
@@ -14,7 +16,7 @@ class SmokeTestE2ETest {
 
     @Test
     fun failureService() {
-        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests("failureService")
+        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests()
 
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok FailureService FailuresTest - error expected from service")
     }
@@ -22,7 +24,7 @@ class SmokeTestE2ETest {
     @Test
     fun successServiceSkipTags() {
         val envVars = mapOf(SKIP_TAGS to "success")
-        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests("successService", envVars)
+        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests(envVars)
 
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTest - no error expected from service")
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTestWithTags - no error expected from service # skip")
@@ -31,34 +33,28 @@ class SmokeTestE2ETest {
     @Test
     fun successServiceServiceFilter() {
         val envVars = mapOf(SERVICE_FILTER to "Failure") // Only run tests for services with this SDK ID
-        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests("successService", envVars)
+        val smokeTestRunnerOutput = runSmokeTests(envVars)
 
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTest - no error expected from service # skip")
         assertContains(smokeTestRunnerOutput, "ok SuccessService SuccessTestWithTags - no error expected from service # skip")
     }
 }
 
-private fun runSmokeTests(service: String, envVars: Map<String, String> = emptyMap()): String {
-    val sdkRootDir = System.getProperty("user.dir") + "/../../../"
-
-    val output = StringBuilder()
-    val smokeTests = ProcessBuilder()
-        .command("ls")
-        .directory(File(sdkRootDir))
-        .redirectErrorStream(true)
-
-    envVars.forEach { (key, value) ->
-        smokeTests
-            .environment()
-            .put(key, value)
+private fun runSmokeTests(envVars: Map<String, String> = emptyMap()): String {
+    val currentDir = System.getProperty("user.dir")
+    val outputStream = ByteArrayOutputStream()
+    val connector = GradleConnector.newConnector()
+        .forProjectDirectory(File(currentDir))
+        .connect()
+
+    connector.use {
+        it.newBuild()
+            .forTasks("smokeTest")
+            .setStandardOutput(outputStream)
+            .setStandardError(outputStream)
+            .setEnvironmentVariables(envVars)
+            .run()
     }
 
-    smokeTests
-        .start()
-        .inputStream
-        .bufferedReader()
-        .forEachLine { output.append("$it\n") }
-
-    throw Exception(output.toString())
-    return output.toString()
+    return outputStream.toString()
 }