diff --git a/cmd/installer/cli/install.go b/cmd/installer/cli/install.go
index 06f0e9773..7268812ca 100644
--- a/cmd/installer/cli/install.go
+++ b/cmd/installer/cli/install.go
@@ -230,6 +230,11 @@ func addManagerExperienceFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, flags *InstallCmdFlags) error
 }
 
 func preRunInstall(cmd *cobra.Command, flags *InstallCmdFlags, rc runtimeconfig.RuntimeConfig) error {
+	// Check for undocumented environment variable if flag not explicitly set
+	if !cmd.Flags().Changed("skip-host-preflights") && os.Getenv("SKIP_HOST_PREFLIGHTS") != "" {
+		flags.skipHostPreflights = true
+	}
+
 	if os.Getuid() != 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("install command must be run as root")
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/installer/cli/install_test.go b/cmd/installer/cli/install_test.go
index b63d79813..707860b87 100644
--- a/cmd/installer/cli/install_test.go
+++ b/cmd/installer/cli/install_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/replicatedhq/embedded-cluster/pkg/prompts"
 	"github.com/replicatedhq/embedded-cluster/pkg/prompts/plain"
 	"github.com/replicatedhq/embedded-cluster/pkg/release"
+	"github.com/replicatedhq/embedded-cluster/pkg/runtimeconfig"
 	kotsv1beta1 "github.com/replicatedhq/kotskinds/apis/kots/v1beta1"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -607,3 +609,91 @@ func Test_verifyProxyConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_preRunInstall_SkipHostPreflightsEnvVar(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name                   string
+		envVarValue            string
+		flagValue              *bool // nil means not set, true/false means explicitly set
+		expectedSkipPreflights bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:                   "env var set, no flag",
+			envVarValue:            "1",
+			flagValue:              nil,
+			expectedSkipPreflights: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                   "env var set, flag explicitly false (flag takes precedence)",
+			envVarValue:            "1",
+			flagValue:              boolPtr(false),
+			expectedSkipPreflights: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                   "env var set, flag explicitly true",
+			envVarValue:            "1",
+			flagValue:              boolPtr(true),
+			expectedSkipPreflights: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                   "env var not set, no flag",
+			envVarValue:            "",
+			flagValue:              nil,
+			expectedSkipPreflights: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                   "env var not set, flag explicitly false",
+			envVarValue:            "",
+			flagValue:              boolPtr(false),
+			expectedSkipPreflights: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:                   "env var not set, flag explicitly true",
+			envVarValue:            "",
+			flagValue:              boolPtr(true),
+			expectedSkipPreflights: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			// Set up environment variable
+			if tt.envVarValue != "" {
+				t.Setenv("SKIP_HOST_PREFLIGHTS", tt.envVarValue)
+			}
+
+			// Create a mock cobra command to simulate flag behavior
+			cmd := &cobra.Command{}
+			flags := &InstallCmdFlags{}
+
+			// Add the flag to the command (similar to addInstallFlags)
+			cmd.Flags().BoolVar(&flags.skipHostPreflights, "skip-host-preflights", false, "Skip host preflight checks")
+
+			// Set the flag if explicitly provided in test
+			if tt.flagValue != nil {
+				err := cmd.Flags().Set("skip-host-preflights", fmt.Sprintf("%t", *tt.flagValue))
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			}
+
+			// Create a minimal runtime config for the test
+			rc := runtimeconfig.New(nil)
+
+			// Call preRunInstall (this would normally require root, but we're just testing the flag logic)
+			// We expect this to fail due to non-root execution, but we can check the flag value before it fails
+			err := preRunInstall(cmd, flags, rc)
+
+			// The function will fail due to non-root check, but we can verify the flag was set correctly
+			// by checking the flag value before the root check fails
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedSkipPreflights, flags.skipHostPreflights)
+
+			// We expect an error due to non-root execution
+			assert.Error(t, err)
+			assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "install command must be run as root")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// Helper function to create bool pointer
+func boolPtr(b bool) *bool {
+	return &b
+}