diff --git a/tests/e2e/register.test.ts b/tests/e2e/register.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c8bc6c211f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/register.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+import {env} from 'node:process';
+import {test, expect} from '@playwright/test';
+import {logout} from './utils.ts';
+
+test.beforeEach(async ({page}) => {
+  await page.goto('/user/sign_up');
+});
+
+test('register page has form', async ({page}) => {
+  await expect(page.getByLabel('Username')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByLabel('Email Address')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByLabel('Password', {exact: true})).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByLabel('Confirm Password')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Register Account'})).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('register with empty fields shows error', async ({page}) => {
+  // HTML5 required attribute prevents submission, so verify the fields are required
+  await expect(page.locator('input[name="user_name"][required]')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.locator('input[name="email"][required]')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.locator('input[name="password"][required]')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.locator('input[name="retype"][required]')).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('register with mismatched passwords shows error', async ({page}) => {
+  await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('e2e-register-mismatch');
+  await page.getByLabel('Email Address').fill('e2e-register-mismatch@test.gitea.io');
+  await page.getByLabel('Password', {exact: true}).fill('password123!');
+  await page.getByLabel('Confirm Password').fill('different123!');
+  await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Register Account'}).click();
+  await expect(page.locator('.ui.negative.message')).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('register then login', async ({page}) => {
+  const username = `e2e-register-${Date.now()}`;
+  const email = `${username}@test.gitea.io`;
+  const password = 'password123!';
+
+  await page.getByLabel('Username').fill(username);
+  await page.getByLabel('Email Address').fill(email);
+  await page.getByLabel('Password', {exact: true}).fill(password);
+  await page.getByLabel('Confirm Password').fill(password);
+  await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Register Account'}).click();
+
+  // After successful registration, should be redirected away from sign_up
+  await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(/sign_up/);
+
+  // Logout then login with the newly created account
+  await logout(page);
+  await page.goto('/user/login');
+  await page.getByLabel('Username or Email Address').fill(username);
+  await page.getByLabel('Password').fill(password);
+  await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Sign In'}).click();
+  await expect(page.getByRole('link', {name: 'Sign In'})).toBeHidden();
+
+  // Clean up: delete the user via API using the main e2e admin account
+  const response = await page.request.delete(`/api/v1/admin/users/${username}?purge=true`, {
+    headers: {Authorization: `Basic ${btoa(`${env.E2E_USER}:${env.E2E_PASSWORD}`)}`},
+  });
+  expect(response.ok()).toBeTruthy();
+});
+
+test('register with existing username shows error', async ({page}) => {
+  await page.getByLabel('Username').fill('e2e');
+  await page.getByLabel('Email Address').fill('e2e-duplicate@test.gitea.io');
+  await page.getByLabel('Password', {exact: true}).fill('password123!');
+  await page.getByLabel('Confirm Password').fill('password123!');
+  await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Register Account'}).click();
+  await expect(page.locator('.ui.negative.message')).toBeVisible();
+});
+
+test('sign in link exists', async ({page}) => {
+  const signInLink = page.getByText('Sign in now!');
+  await expect(signInLink).toBeVisible();
+  await signInLink.click();
+  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/user\/login$/);
+});
diff --git a/tools/test-e2e.sh b/tools/test-e2e.sh
index ac43bb82e4..ed7d2233ef 100755
--- a/tools/test-e2e.sh
+++ b/tools/test-e2e.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ E2E_URL="${E2E_URL%/}"
 
 echo "Using Gitea server: $E2E_URL"
 
+# Disable CAPTCHA for e2e tests
+export GITEA__service__ENABLE_CAPTCHA=false
+
 SERVER_PID=""
 cleanup() {
   if [ -n "$SERVER_PID" ]; then
@@ -70,7 +73,7 @@ E2E_EMAIL="e2e@test.gitea.io"
 E2E_PASSWORD="password"
 if ! curl -sf --max-time 5 "$E2E_URL/api/v1/users/$E2E_USER" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
   echo "Creating e2e test user..."
-  if "./$EXECUTABLE" admin user create --username "$E2E_USER" --email "$E2E_EMAIL" --password "$E2E_PASSWORD" --must-change-password=false; then
+  if "./$EXECUTABLE" admin user create --username "$E2E_USER" --email "$E2E_EMAIL" --password "$E2E_PASSWORD" --must-change-password=false --admin; then
     echo "User '$E2E_USER' created"
   else
     echo "error: failed to create user '$E2E_USER'" >&2