diff --git a/molecule/downgrade-plus/prepare.yml b/molecule/downgrade-plus/prepare.yml
index d4cc97d7e..1292a525b 100644
--- a/molecule/downgrade-plus/prepare.yml
+++ b/molecule/downgrade-plus/prepare.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@
         force: false
         mode: "0444"
 
+    - name: Create ephemeral license JWT file from b64 encoded env var
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        content: "{{ lookup('env', 'NGINX_JWT') }}"
+        dest: ../../files/license/license.jwt
+        force: false
+        mode: "0444"
+
 - name: Prepare NGINX Plus
   hosts: all
   tasks:
diff --git a/molecule/upgrade-plus/prepare.yml b/molecule/upgrade-plus/prepare.yml
index 01cae639c..db43ecd63 100644
--- a/molecule/upgrade-plus/prepare.yml
+++ b/molecule/upgrade-plus/prepare.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@
         force: false
         mode: "0444"
 
+    - name: Create ephemeral license JWT file from b64 encoded env var
+      ansible.builtin.copy:
+        content: "{{ lookup('env', 'NGINX_JWT') }}"
+        dest: ../../files/license/license.jwt
+        force: false
+        mode: "0444"
+
 - name: Prepare NGINX Plus
   hosts: all
   pre_tasks: