diff --git a/e2e/shared/smokeTestScenario.ts b/e2e/shared/smokeTestScenario.ts
index fa129cd5a14..b5c0a4bb28e 100644
--- a/e2e/shared/smokeTestScenario.ts
+++ b/e2e/shared/smokeTestScenario.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ export const smokeTestScenario = {
   addScenarioDataSource: true,
   addScenarioDashBoard: true,
   skipScenario: false,
+  loginViaApi: false,
   scenario: () => {
     e2e.flows.openDashboard();
     e2e.components.PageToolbar.item('Add panel').click();
diff --git a/packages/grafana-e2e/src/flows/login.ts b/packages/grafana-e2e/src/flows/login.ts
index 300d8fed5c4..01f0042ed15 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-e2e/src/flows/login.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-e2e/src/flows/login.ts
@@ -1,22 +1,34 @@
 import { e2e } from '../index';
+import { fromBaseUrl } from '../support/url';
 
 const DEFAULT_USERNAME = 'admin';
 const DEFAULT_PASSWORD = 'admin';
 
-export const login = (username = DEFAULT_USERNAME, password = DEFAULT_PASSWORD) => {
-  e2e().logToConsole('Logging in with username:', username);
-  e2e.pages.Login.visit();
-  e2e.pages.Login.username()
-    .should('be.visible') // prevents flakiness
-    .type(username);
-  e2e.pages.Login.password().type(password);
-  e2e.pages.Login.submit().click();
+export const login = (username = DEFAULT_USERNAME, password = DEFAULT_PASSWORD, loginViaApi = true) => {
+  if (loginViaApi) {
+    cy.request({
+      method: 'POST',
+      url: fromBaseUrl('/login'),
+      body: {
+        user: username,
+        password,
+      },
+    });
+  } else {
+    e2e().logToConsole('Logging in with username:', username);
+    e2e.pages.Login.visit();
+    e2e.pages.Login.username()
+      .should('be.visible') // prevents flakiness
+      .type(username);
+    e2e.pages.Login.password().type(password);
+    e2e.pages.Login.submit().click();
 
-  // Local tests will have insecure credentials
-  if (password === DEFAULT_PASSWORD) {
-    e2e.pages.Login.skip().should('be.visible').click();
+    // Local tests will have insecure credentials
+    if (password === DEFAULT_PASSWORD) {
+      e2e.pages.Login.skip().should('be.visible').click();
+    }
+
+    e2e().get('.login-page').should('not.exist');
   }
-
-  e2e().get('.login-page').should('not.exist');
   e2e().logToConsole('Logged in with username:', username);
 };
diff --git a/packages/grafana-e2e/src/support/scenario.ts b/packages/grafana-e2e/src/support/scenario.ts
index 1a499c8218a..b4926b5bfbc 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-e2e/src/support/scenario.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-e2e/src/support/scenario.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export interface ScenarioArguments {
   skipScenario?: boolean;
   addScenarioDataSource?: boolean;
   addScenarioDashBoard?: boolean;
+  loginViaApi?: boolean;
 }
 
 export const e2eScenario = ({
@@ -16,12 +17,13 @@ export const e2eScenario = ({
   skipScenario = false,
   addScenarioDataSource = false,
   addScenarioDashBoard = false,
+  loginViaApi = true,
 }: ScenarioArguments) => {
   describe(describeName, () => {
     if (skipScenario) {
       it.skip(itName, () => scenario());
     } else {
-      before(() => e2e.flows.login(e2e.env('USERNAME'), e2e.env('PASSWORD')));
+      before(() => e2e.flows.login(e2e.env('USERNAME'), e2e.env('PASSWORD'), loginViaApi));
 
       beforeEach(() => {
         Cypress.Cookies.preserveOnce('grafana_session');