diff --git a/tests/containers/bci_test.pm b/tests/containers/bci_test.pm
index 8a80157e810e..873d0fbc7ca1 100644
--- a/tests/containers/bci_test.pm
+++ b/tests/containers/bci_test.pm
@@ -101,6 +101,13 @@ sub run {
 
     $error_count = 0;
 
+    # For some containers we need to fake the OS version to distinguish them
+    my $os_version = get_var('BCI_OS_VERSION');
+    if ($os_version) {
+        script_run("export OS_VERSION=$os_version");
+        validate_script_output('echo $OS_VERSION', sub { m/$os_version/ });
+    }
+
     my $engine = $args->{runtime};
     my $bci_devel_repo = get_var('BCI_DEVEL_REPO');
     my $bci_tests_repo = get_required_var('BCI_TESTS_REPO');
diff --git a/variables.md b/variables.md
index f72ee78b2a3d..6b52e3b1b418 100644
--- a/variables.md
+++ b/variables.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ BCI_TARGET | string | ibs-cr | Container project to be tested. `ibs-cr` is the C
 BCI_SKIP | boolean | false | Switch to disable BCI test runs. Necessary for fine-granular test disablement
 BCI_PREPARE | boolean | false | Launch the bci_prepare step again. Useful to re-initialize the BCI-Test repo when using a different BCI_TESTS_REPO
 BCI_VIRTUALENV | boolean | false | Use a virtualenv for pip dependencies in BCI tests
+BCI_OS_VERSION | string | | Set the environment variable OS_VERSION to this value, if present
 BOOTLOADER | string | grub2 | Which bootloader is used by the image (and in the future also: will be selected during installation)
 BTRFS | boolean | false | Indicates btrfs filesystem. Deprecated, use FILESYSTEM instead.
 BUILD | string  |       | Indicates build number of the product under test.