diff --git a/terraform/eks/daemon/otel/main.tf b/terraform/eks/daemon/otel/main.tf
index 22b3d5de..edb8964b 100644
--- a/terraform/eks/daemon/otel/main.tf
+++ b/terraform/eks/daemon/otel/main.tf
@@ -347,9 +347,29 @@ resource "null_resource" "ksm_replicaset" {
 
 # --- Test runner ---
 
+# --- Apply test taints to first node in standard node group ---
+
+resource "null_resource" "apply_test_taints" {
+  depends_on = [null_resource.restart_pods, null_resource.kubectl]
+  triggers   = { always_run = timestamp() }
+  provisioner "local-exec" {
+    command = <<-EOT
+      NODE=$(kubectl get nodes -l "node.kubernetes.io/instance-type=${var.instance_type}" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')
+      kubectl taint nodes "$NODE" \
+        ci-test.example.com/dedicated=gpu:NoSchedule \
+        ci-test.example.com/team=ml:NoSchedule \
+        --overwrite
+      echo "Applied test taints to $NODE"
+    EOT
+  }
+}
+
+# --- Test runner ---
+
 resource "null_resource" "validator" {
   depends_on = [
     null_resource.restart_pods,
+    null_resource.apply_test_taints,
     kubernetes_deployment_v1.nginx_test,
   ]
 
diff --git a/test/otel/standard/taints_test.go b/test/otel/standard/taints_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a152507e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/otel/standard/taints_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+//go:build integration
+
+// Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package standard
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// Test taints applied to the first node:
+//   ci-test.example.com/dedicated=gpu:NoSchedule
+//   ci-test.example.com/empty=:NoExecute
+
+const (
+	taintKeyDedicated = "k8s.node.taint.ci-test.example.com/dedicated"
+	taintKeyEmpty     = "k8s.node.taint.ci-test.example.com/empty"
+	taintPrefix       = "k8s.node.taint.ci-test.example.com/"
+)
+
+func TestTaintsAppearOnDaemonSetMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := queryCache.Get(context.Background(), "node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "querying node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, results, "node_cpu_seconds_total not available")
+
+	var found bool
+	for _, r := range results {
+		if r.Labels.Resource[taintKeyDedicated] == "gpu" {
+			found = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	require.True(t, found, "expected at least one node_cpu_seconds_total series with %s=gpu", taintKeyDedicated)
+}
+
+func TestTaintsEmptyValueSkipped(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := queryCache.Get(context.Background(), "node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "querying node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, results, "node_cpu_seconds_total not available")
+
+	for _, r := range results {
+		if r.Labels.Resource[taintKeyDedicated] != "gpu" {
+			continue
+		}
+		_, hasEmpty := r.Labels.Resource[taintKeyEmpty]
+		require.False(t, hasEmpty, "empty-value taint %s should NOT be present", taintKeyEmpty)
+		return
+	}
+	t.Fatal("no tainted series found to verify empty-value taint absence")
+}
+
+func TestTaintsAbsentOnUntaintedNodes(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := queryCache.Get(context.Background(), "node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "querying node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, results, "node_cpu_seconds_total not available")
+
+	var untainted int
+	for _, r := range results {
+		hasTaint := false
+		for k := range r.Labels.Resource {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(k, taintPrefix) {
+				hasTaint = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if !hasTaint {
+			untainted++
+		}
+	}
+	require.Greater(t, untainted, 0, "expected at least one series from untainted node with no %s* attrs", taintPrefix)
+}
+
+func TestTaintsAppearOnClusterScraperMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := queryCache.Get(context.Background(), "kube_node_info")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "querying kube_node_info")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, results, "kube_node_info not available")
+
+	var found bool
+	for _, r := range results {
+		if r.Labels.Resource[taintKeyDedicated] == "gpu" {
+			found = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	require.True(t, found, "expected at least one kube_node_info series with %s=gpu (cluster-scraper)", taintKeyDedicated)
+}
+
+func TestTaintsMultipleOnSameNode(t *testing.T) {
+	results, err := queryCache.Get(context.Background(), "node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "querying node_cpu_seconds_total")
+	require.NotEmpty(t, results, "node_cpu_seconds_total not available")
+
+	for _, r := range results {
+		if r.Labels.Resource[taintKeyDedicated] != "gpu" {
+			continue
+		}
+		// The tainted node also has ci-test.example.com/team=ml
+		val, hasTeam := r.Labels.Resource["k8s.node.taint.ci-test.example.com/team"]
+		require.True(t, hasTeam, "tainted node should have both test taints present")
+		require.Equal(t, "ml", val)
+		return
+	}
+	t.Fatal("no tainted series found to verify multiple taints")
+}