diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/versionupgrade.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/versionupgrade.go
index e7af34c97243..0156d4268b02 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/versionupgrade.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/versionupgrade.go
@@ -431,7 +431,6 @@ func upgradeNodes(
 
 		binary := uploadVersion(ctx, t, c, c.Node(node), newVersion)
 		settings := install.MakeClusterSettings(install.BinaryOption(binary))
-		settings.Env = append(settings.Env, "COCKROACH_UPGRADE_TO_DEV_VERSION=true")
 		c.Start(ctx, t.L(), startOpts, settings, c.Node(node))
 
 		// We have seen cases where a transient error could occur when this
diff --git a/pkg/roachprod/config/config.go b/pkg/roachprod/config/config.go
index eeb289f55913..59e7b54fd192 100644
--- a/pkg/roachprod/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/roachprod/config/config.go
@@ -88,6 +88,11 @@ func DefaultEnvVars() []string {
 		"COCKROACH_ENABLE_RPC_COMPRESSION=false",
 		// Get rid of an annoying popup in the UI.
 		"COCKROACH_UI_RELEASE_NOTES_SIGNUP_DISMISSED=true",
+		// Allow upgrading a stable release data-dir to a dev version.
+		// N.B. many roachtests which perform upgrade scenarios require this env. var after changes in [1]; otherwise,
+		// the tests will fail even on release branches when attempting to upgrade previous (stable) release to an alpha.
+		// [1] https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/87468
+		"COCKROACH_UPGRADE_TO_DEV_VERSION=true",
 	}
 }