diff --git a/cmd/deploy.go b/cmd/deploy.go
index 5d14635..a2f631d 100644
--- a/cmd/deploy.go
+++ b/cmd/deploy.go
@@ -197,6 +197,20 @@ Examples:
 		}),
 	)
 
+	registerFlag(cmd, settings, "operator-env", "Operator environment variables (e.g., RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN=quay.io/...)",
+		withApplyFn("env-var", func(config *deployer.Config, envExpr string) error {
+			key, value, err := deployer.ParseOperatorEnvVar(envExpr)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("parsing operator env var: %w", err)
+			}
+			if config.Operator.EnvVars == nil {
+				config.Operator.EnvVars = make(map[string]string)
+			}
+			config.Operator.EnvVars[key] = value
+			return nil
+		}),
+	)
+
 	registerFlag(cmd, settings, "features", "Feature flag settings (e.g., +ROX_FOO,-ROX_BAR,ROX_BAZ=true)",
 		withApplyFn("feature-flags", func(config *deployer.Config, featureFlagExpr string) error {
 			featureFlags, err := deployer.ParseFeatureFlags([]string{featureFlagExpr})
diff --git a/cmd/deploy_test.go b/cmd/deploy_test.go
index 6443b02..ccf6749 100644
--- a/cmd/deploy_test.go
+++ b/cmd/deploy_test.go
@@ -144,6 +144,32 @@ func TestNewDeployCmd_Flags(t *testing.T) {
 				assert.Equal(t, types.ResourceProfileSmall, cfg.Central.ResourceProfile, "Central.ResourceProfile mismatch")
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "operator-env single",
+			args: []string{"--operator-env", "RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN=quay.io/main:4.7.0"},
+			assert: func(t *testing.T, cfg deployer.Config) {
+				require.NotNil(t, cfg.Operator.EnvVars, "Operator.EnvVars should be set")
+				assert.Equal(t, "quay.io/main:4.7.0", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN"])
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "operator-env containing commas",
+			args: []string{"--operator-env", "FOO=bar,BAZ=qux,quux"},
+			assert: func(t *testing.T, cfg deployer.Config) {
+				require.NotNil(t, cfg.Operator.EnvVars, "Operator.EnvVars should be set")
+				assert.Equal(t, "bar,BAZ=qux,quux", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["FOO"])
+				assert.NotContains(t, cfg.Operator.EnvVars, "BAZ")
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "operator-env multiple flags",
+			args: []string{"--operator-env", "FOO=bar", "--operator-env", "BAZ=qux"},
+			assert: func(t *testing.T, cfg deployer.Config) {
+				require.NotNil(t, cfg.Operator.EnvVars, "Operator.EnvVars should be set")
+				assert.Equal(t, "bar", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["FOO"])
+				assert.Equal(t, "qux", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["BAZ"])
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "config file can be used",
 			config: `
@@ -166,6 +192,22 @@ securedCluster:
 			},
 		},
 
+		{
+			name: "config file with operator env vars",
+			config: `
+operator:
+  envVars:
+    RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN: quay.io/rhacs-eng/main:4.7.0
+    RELATED_IMAGE_SCANNER: quay.io/rhacs-eng/scanner:4.7.0
+`,
+			args: []string{"--config", configFilePath},
+			assert: func(t *testing.T, cfg deployer.Config) {
+				require.NotNil(t, cfg.Operator.EnvVars, "Operator.EnvVars should be set")
+				assert.Equal(t, "quay.io/rhacs-eng/main:4.7.0", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN"])
+				assert.Equal(t, "quay.io/rhacs-eng/scanner:4.7.0", cfg.Operator.EnvVars["RELATED_IMAGE_SCANNER"])
+			},
+		},
+
 		{
 			name: "config file can disable early-readiness",
 			config: `
diff --git a/internal/deployer/config.go b/internal/deployer/config.go
index 01e541e..ea0bd82 100644
--- a/internal/deployer/config.go
+++ b/internal/deployer/config.go
@@ -76,9 +76,10 @@ func NewRoxieConfig() RoxieConfig {
 
 // OperatorConfig controls how the ACS operator is deployed.
 type OperatorConfig struct {
-	SkipDeployment *bool  `yaml:"skipDeployment,omitempty"`
-	DeployViaOlm   *bool  `yaml:"deployViaOlm,omitempty"`
-	Version        string `yaml:"version,omitempty"`
+	SkipDeployment *bool             `yaml:"skipDeployment,omitempty"`
+	DeployViaOlm   *bool             `yaml:"deployViaOlm,omitempty"`
+	Version        string            `yaml:"version,omitempty"`
+	EnvVars        map[string]string `yaml:"envVars,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (c *OperatorConfig) SkipDeploymentSet() bool {
diff --git a/internal/deployer/operator.go b/internal/deployer/operator.go
index f271a4a..02e3999 100644
--- a/internal/deployer/operator.go
+++ b/internal/deployer/operator.go
@@ -321,9 +321,16 @@ func (d *Deployer) deployOperatorFromCSV(ctx context.Context, bundleDir string)
 	d.useOperatorPullSecrets = d.config.Roxie.KonfluxImagesEnabled() && d.config.Roxie.ClusterType.NeedsPullSecrets()
 
 	d.logger.Info("📋 Operator deployment plan:")
-	d.logger.Dim(fmt.Sprintf("  • Namespace: %s", operatorNamespace))
-	d.logger.Dim(fmt.Sprintf("  • ServiceAccount: %s", serviceAccountName))
-	d.logger.Dim(fmt.Sprintf("  • Setting up pull secrets: %v", d.useOperatorPullSecrets))
+	d.logger.Dimf("  • Namespace: %s", operatorNamespace)
+	d.logger.Dimf("  • ServiceAccount: %s", serviceAccountName)
+	d.logger.Dimf("  • Setting up pull secrets: %v", d.useOperatorPullSecrets)
+	if len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) > 0 {
+		d.logger.Dimf("  • Custom operator env vars: %d", len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars))
+		for _, envVar := range envVarsToSortedList(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) {
+			ev := envVar.(map[string]interface{})
+			d.logger.Dimf("    %s=%s", ev["name"], ev["value"])
+		}
+	}
 
 	if err := d.prepareNamespace(ctx, operatorNamespace, d.useOperatorPullSecrets); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -530,6 +537,16 @@ func (d *Deployer) createDeploymentFromCSV(ctx context.Context, namespace string
 	if template, ok := spec["template"].(map[string]interface{}); ok {
 		if podSpec, ok := template["spec"].(map[string]interface{}); ok {
 			podSpec["serviceAccountName"] = deploymentSpec["service_account"]
+
+			if len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) > 0 {
+				containers, ok := podSpec["containers"].([]interface{})
+				if !ok {
+					return errors.New("no containers found in deployment pod spec")
+				}
+				if err := d.injectEnvVarsIntoManagerContainer(containers); err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("failed to inject operator env vars: %w", err)
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -548,6 +565,45 @@ func (d *Deployer) createDeploymentFromCSV(ctx context.Context, namespace string
 	return nil
 }
 
+const managerContainerName = "manager"
+
+// injectEnvVarsIntoManagerContainer merges configured operator env vars into
+// the manager container, overriding any existing env vars with the same name.
+func (d *Deployer) injectEnvVarsIntoManagerContainer(containers []interface{}) error {
+	for _, c := range containers {
+		container, ok := c.(map[string]interface{})
+		if !ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		if container["name"] != managerContainerName {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		existing := make(map[string]int)
+		envList, _ := container["env"].([]interface{})
+		for i, item := range envList {
+			if envVar, ok := item.(map[string]interface{}); ok {
+				if name, ok := envVar["name"].(string); ok {
+					existing[name] = i
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		for _, envVar := range envVarsToSortedList(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) {
+			name := envVar.(map[string]interface{})["name"].(string)
+			if idx, found := existing[name]; found {
+				envList[idx] = envVar
+			} else {
+				envList = append(envList, envVar)
+			}
+		}
+
+		container["env"] = envList
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("container %q not found in deployment", managerContainerName)
+}
+
 func (d *Deployer) applyBundleServiceResources(ctx context.Context, bundleDir, namespace string) error {
 	serviceFile := filepath.Join(bundleDir, "rhacs-operator-controller-manager-metrics-service_v1_service.yaml")
 	if _, err := os.Stat(serviceFile); err == nil {
diff --git a/internal/deployer/operator_env.go b/internal/deployer/operator_env.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0bcfd84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/deployer/operator_env.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package deployer
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ParseOperatorEnvVar parses a single KEY=VALUE environment variable string.
+// Values may contain '=' characters (only the first '=' is used as the separator).
+func ParseOperatorEnvVar(envExpr string) (string, string, error) {
+	key, value, found := strings.Cut(envExpr, "=")
+	key = strings.TrimSpace(key)
+	if !found {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("invalid operator env var %q: expected KEY=VALUE format", envExpr)
+	}
+	if key == "" {
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("invalid operator env var %q: empty key", envExpr)
+	}
+	return key, value, nil
+}
+
+// envVarsToSortedList converts a map of env vars to a sorted list of
+// {name, value} maps suitable for use in Kubernetes container or OLM Subscription specs.
+func envVarsToSortedList(envVars map[string]string) []interface{} {
+	result := make([]interface{}, 0, len(envVars))
+	for name, value := range envVars {
+		result = append(result, map[string]interface{}{
+			"name":  name,
+			"value": value,
+		})
+	}
+	sort.Slice(result, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return result[i].(map[string]interface{})["name"].(string) <
+			result[j].(map[string]interface{})["name"].(string)
+	})
+	return result
+}
diff --git a/internal/deployer/operator_env_test.go b/internal/deployer/operator_env_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f8d901
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/deployer/operator_env_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+package deployer
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestParseOperatorEnvVar(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		input       string
+		expectedKey string
+		expectedVal string
+		expectError bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "simple KEY=VALUE",
+			input:       "RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN=quay.io/rhacs-eng/main:4.7.0",
+			expectedKey: "RELATED_IMAGE_MAIN",
+			expectedVal: "quay.io/rhacs-eng/main:4.7.0",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "value containing equals sign",
+			input:       "MY_VAR=a=b=c",
+			expectedKey: "MY_VAR",
+			expectedVal: "a=b=c",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "empty value",
+			input:       "MY_VAR=",
+			expectedKey: "MY_VAR",
+			expectedVal: "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "key with spaces",
+			input:       " MY_VAR =foo",
+			expectedKey: "MY_VAR",
+			expectedVal: "foo",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "value with spaces",
+			input:       "MY_VAR= hello world ",
+			expectedKey: "MY_VAR",
+			expectedVal: " hello world ",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "value with commas",
+			input:       "MY_VAR=a,b,c",
+			expectedKey: "MY_VAR",
+			expectedVal: "a,b,c",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "missing equals sign",
+			input:       "NO_VALUE",
+			expectError: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "empty key",
+			input:       "=value",
+			expectError: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "whitespace key",
+			input:       " =value",
+			expectError: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			key, value, err := ParseOperatorEnvVar(tt.input)
+			if tt.expectError {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				return
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedKey, key)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expectedVal, value)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEnvVarsToSortedList(t *testing.T) {
+	input := map[string]string{
+		"ZZZ": "z",
+		"AAA": "a",
+		"MMM": "m",
+	}
+	result := envVarsToSortedList(input)
+
+	require.Len(t, result, 3)
+
+	expectedOrder := []string{"AAA", "MMM", "ZZZ"}
+	for i, item := range result {
+		name := item.(map[string]interface{})["name"].(string)
+		assert.Equal(t, expectedOrder[i], name, "index %d", i)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/deployer/operator_olm.go b/internal/deployer/operator_olm.go
index 9428cac..c55c0fc 100644
--- a/internal/deployer/operator_olm.go
+++ b/internal/deployer/operator_olm.go
@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@ const (
 func (d *Deployer) deployOperatorViaOLM(ctx context.Context) error {
 	d.logger.Info("🚀 Deploying operator via OLM...")
 	d.logger.Infof("Operator tag: %s", d.config.Operator.Version)
+	if len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) > 0 {
+		d.logger.Infof("Custom operator env vars: %d", len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars))
+		for _, envVar := range envVarsToSortedList(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) {
+			ev := envVar.(map[string]interface{})
+			d.logger.Dimf("  %s=%s", ev["name"], ev["value"])
+		}
+	}
 
 	if err := d.checkOLMInstalled(ctx); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -200,6 +207,21 @@ func (d *Deployer) createSubscription(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	startingCSV := fmt.Sprintf("rhacs-operator.v%s", d.config.Operator.Version)
 
+	subscriptionSpec := map[string]interface{}{
+		"channel":             operatorChannel,
+		"name":                "rhacs-operator",
+		"source":              catalogSourceName,
+		"sourceNamespace":     operatorNamespace,
+		"installPlanApproval": "Manual",
+		"startingCSV":         startingCSV,
+	}
+
+	if len(d.config.Operator.EnvVars) > 0 {
+		subscriptionSpec["config"] = map[string]interface{}{
+			"env": envVarsToSortedList(d.config.Operator.EnvVars),
+		}
+	}
+
 	subscription := map[string]interface{}{
 		"apiVersion": "operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1",
 		"kind":       "Subscription",
@@ -207,14 +229,7 @@ func (d *Deployer) createSubscription(ctx context.Context) error {
 			"name":      subscriptionName,
 			"namespace": operatorNamespace,
 		},
-		"spec": map[string]interface{}{
-			"channel":             operatorChannel,
-			"name":                "rhacs-operator",
-			"source":              catalogSourceName,
-			"sourceNamespace":     operatorNamespace,
-			"installPlanApproval": "Manual",
-			"startingCSV":         startingCSV,
-		},
+		"spec": subscriptionSpec,
 	}
 
 	yamlData, err := yaml.Marshal(subscription)