diff --git a/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/templates/manager/deployment-rhods-operator.yaml b/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/templates/manager/deployment-rhods-operator.yaml
index b8a9482f3d..2a20d966e4 100644
--- a/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/templates/manager/deployment-rhods-operator.yaml
+++ b/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/templates/manager/deployment-rhods-operator.yaml
@@ -118,6 +118,10 @@ spec:
             - name: {{ $item.name | quote }}
               value: {{ $item.value | quote }}
             {{- end }}
+            {{- range $item := .Values.rhaiOperator.extraEnvVars }}
+            - name: {{ $item.name | quote }}
+              value: {{ $item.value | quote }}
+            {{- end }}
           image: {{ .Values.rhaiOperator.image }}
           imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.rhaiOperator.imagePullPolicy }}
           livenessProbe:
diff --git a/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/values.yaml b/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/values.yaml
index c7344fa80b..d894a97239 100644
--- a/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/values.yaml
+++ b/to-be-processed/helm/rhai-on-xks-chart/values.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ rhaiOperator:
   # relatedImages:
   #   - name: RELATED_IMAGE_ODH_KSERVE_CONTROLLER_IMAGE
   #     value: quay.io/opendatahub/kserve-controller:latest
+  # Extra env vars that are not container image references (e.g. UPSTREAM_VERSION strings)
+  extraEnvVars: []
+  # Example:
+  # extraEnvVars:
+  #   - name: RELATED_IMAGE_RHAII_VLLM_CUDA_UPSTREAM_VERSION
+  #     value: "0.21.0+rhaiv.10"
 
 hooks:
   cliImage: registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-cli-rhel9:v4.20@sha256:d876c1d98b39d65c00c4261431bb84b90284699f3aef84d8701a25c786fb79a1