diff --git a/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/envvar.go b/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/envvar.go
index ce6be1b92..43fac422c 100644
--- a/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/envvar.go
+++ b/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/envvar.go
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ const (
 	DDOtelCollectorCoreConfigExtensionURL     = "DD_OTELCOLLECTOR_EXTENSION_URL"
 	DDOtelCollectorCoreConfigExtensionTimeout = "DD_OTELCOLLECTOR_EXTENSION_TIMEOUT"
 	DDOtelCollectorConverterFeatures          = "DD_OTELCOLLECTOR_CONVERTER_FEATURES"
+	DDOtelCollectorInstallationMethod         = "DD_OTELCOLLECTOR_INSTALLATION_METHOD"
 )
diff --git a/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/feature.go b/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/feature.go
index 4d6a03217..3f4214136 100644
--- a/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/feature.go
+++ b/internal/controller/datadogagent/feature/otelcollector/feature.go
@@ -398,6 +398,11 @@ func (o *otelCollectorFeature) ManageNodeAgent(managers feature.PodTemplateManag
 		})
 	}
 
+	managers.EnvVar().AddEnvVarToContainers([]apicommon.AgentContainerName{apicommon.OtelAgent}, &corev1.EnvVar{
+		Name:  DDOtelCollectorInstallationMethod,
+		Value: "kubernetes",
+	})
+
 	return nil
 }