diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 9fd97857b7..6953867ed4 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ VALKEY_IMAGE=valkey/valkey:8.0-alpine
 # must also update the version arg in ./test/tracetesting/Dockerfile
 TRACETEST_IMAGE=kubeshop/tracetest:v1.5.2
 
+# Build Args
+OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION=2.9.0
+
 # Demo Platform
 ENV_PLATFORM=local
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/component-build-images.yml b/.github/workflows/component-build-images.yml
index d209aeb29b..8bfba4e29e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/component-build-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/component-build-images.yml
@@ -124,6 +124,15 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Load .env variables
+        if: ${{ inputs.push }}
+        run: |
+          set -a
+          source <(grep -vE '^\s*#|^\s*$' .env)
+          set +a
+          for var in $(cat .env | cut -d= -f1); do
+            echo "$var=${!var}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          done
       - name: Check for changes and set push options
         id: check_changes
         run: |
diff --git a/src/adservice/Dockerfile b/src/adservice/Dockerfile
index 97c2ebd1ed..369af01a05 100644
--- a/src/adservice/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/adservice/Dockerfile
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ RUN ./gradlew installDist -PprotoSourceDir=./proto
 
 FROM eclipse-temurin:21-jre
 
-ARG version=2.6.0
+ARG OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION
 WORKDIR /usr/src/app/
 
 COPY --from=builder /usr/src/app/ ./
-ADD --chmod=644 https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$version/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /usr/src/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
+ADD --chmod=644 https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /usr/src/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
 ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-javaagent:/usr/src/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
 
 EXPOSE ${AD_SERVICE_PORT}
diff --git a/src/frauddetectionservice/Dockerfile b/src/frauddetectionservice/Dockerfile
index c7e17158b3..f3f62401da 100644
--- a/src/frauddetectionservice/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/frauddetectionservice/Dockerfile
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ RUN gradle shadowJar
 
 FROM gcr.io/distroless/java17-debian11
 
-ARG version=2.4.0
+ARG OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION
 WORKDIR /usr/src/app/
 
 COPY --from=builder /usr/src/app/build/libs/frauddetectionservice-1.0-all.jar ./
-ADD --chmod=644 https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$version/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
+ADD --chmod=644 https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
 ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-javaagent:/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
 
 ENTRYPOINT [ "java", "-jar", "frauddetectionservice-1.0-all.jar" ]
diff --git a/src/kafka/Dockerfile b/src/kafka/Dockerfile
index b3e6a236b5..42e4ffd139 100644
--- a/src/kafka/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/kafka/Dockerfile
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@
 FROM apache/kafka:3.7.0
 
 USER root
-ARG version=2.4.0
+ARG OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION
 
 USER appuser
 
-ADD --chown=appuser:appuser https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$version/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /tmp/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
+ADD --chown=appuser:appuser https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/download/v$OTEL_JAVA_AGENT_VERSION/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar /tmp/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
 
 ENV KAFKA_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://0.0.0.0:9092,CONTROLLER://0.0.0.0:9093
 ENV KAFKA_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS='1@0.0.0.0:9093'