diff --git a/.buildkite/pipelines/emergency_release.yml b/.buildkite/pipelines/emergency_release.yml
index df9b1dea3cfb7..ac359ab842a25 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipelines/emergency_release.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipelines/emergency_release.yml
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ steps:
       env:
         REMOTE_SERVICE_CONFIG: "${EMERGENCY_RELEASE_REMOTE_SERVICE_CONFIG}"
         SERVICE_COMMIT_HASH: "${VERSION}"
+        DRY_RUN: "${DRY_RUN:-false}"
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/serverless/create_deploy_tag/generate_gpctl_trigger.ts b/.buildkite/scripts/serverless/create_deploy_tag/generate_gpctl_trigger.ts
index 231977979c414..445a09bceb437 100644
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/serverless/create_deploy_tag/generate_gpctl_trigger.ts
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/serverless/create_deploy_tag/generate_gpctl_trigger.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ function uploadTriggerStep(commitSha: string) {
       env: {
         SERVICE_COMMIT_HASH: commitSha.slice(0, 12),
         REMOTE_SERVICE_CONFIG,
+        ...(IS_DRY_RUN ? { DRY_RUN: 'true' } : {}),
       },
     },
   };
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/artifacts/docker_image.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/artifacts/docker_image.sh
index 0706a21dd4274..1002c9f798c74 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/artifacts/docker_image.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/artifacts/docker_image.sh
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ steps:
         SERVICE_COMMIT_HASH: "$GIT_ABBREV_COMMIT"
         SERVICE: kibana
         REMOTE_SERVICE_CONFIG: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elastic/serverless-gitops/main/gen/gpctl/kibana/dev.yaml
+        DRY_RUN: "${DRY_RUN:-false}"
 EOF
 
 else