diff --git a/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md b/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d91887bb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/skip-update-check-env.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@workflow/cli": patch
+---
+
+Support `WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1` env var to skip the npm registry version check on startup
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
index 779cec3168..9e86968149 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/update-check.ts
@@ -246,10 +246,17 @@ async function isCacheValid(
 /**
  * Check for updates with filesystem caching
  * Cache is valid unless the local version changes
+ *
+ * Set WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 to skip the update check entirely.
  */
 export async function checkForUpdateCached(
   currentVersion: string
 ): Promise<VersionCheckResult> {
+  if (process.env.WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK === '1') {
+    logger.debug('Skipping update check (WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1)');
+    return { currentVersion, needsUpdate: false };
+  }
+
   const cacheFile = getVersionCheckCacheFile();
 
   // Check if cache is valid
diff --git a/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts b/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
index b4f2011fe2..62322f7b2c 100644
--- a/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/core/e2e/utils.ts
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ const awaitCommand = async (
         env: {
           ...process.env,
           DEBUG: '1',
+          WORKFLOW_NO_UPDATE_CHECK: '1',
           ...envOverrides,
         },
       });