diff --git a/cli/docker/docker.go b/cli/docker/docker.go
index b7e5a0d40b..147d2ca6b5 100644
--- a/cli/docker/docker.go
+++ b/cli/docker/docker.go
@@ -206,6 +206,27 @@ func LoadImage(imagePath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// TagImage tags an existing src image into a target one
+func TagImage(src string, target string) error {
+	dockerClient := getDockerClient()
+
+	err := dockerClient.ImageTag(context.Background(), src, target)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+			"error":  err,
+			"src":    src,
+			"target": target,
+		}).Error("Could not tag the Docker image.")
+		return err
+	}
+
+	log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+		"src":    src,
+		"target": target,
+	}).Debug("Docker image tagged successfully")
+	return nil
+}
+
 // RemoveDevNetwork removes the developer network
 func RemoveDevNetwork() error {
 	dockerClient := getDockerClient()
diff --git a/e2e/_suites/fleet/installers.go b/e2e/_suites/fleet/installers.go
index 40e810b02c..cb8aaa7b36 100644
--- a/e2e/_suites/fleet/installers.go
+++ b/e2e/_suites/fleet/installers.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/e2e-testing/cli/docker"
+	"github.com/elastic/e2e-testing/e2e"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -109,10 +110,11 @@ type DockerPackage struct {
 	installerPath string
 	ubi8          bool
 	// optional fields
-	arch     string
-	artifact string
-	OS       string
-	version  string
+	arch            string
+	artifact        string
+	originalVersion string
+	OS              string
+	version         string
 }
 
 // NewDockerPackage creates an instance for the Docker installer
@@ -143,7 +145,17 @@ func (i *DockerPackage) InstallCerts() error {
 
 // Preinstall executes operations before installing a Docker package
 func (i *DockerPackage) Preinstall() error {
-	return docker.LoadImage(i.installerPath)
+	err := docker.LoadImage(i.installerPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// we need to tag the loaded image because its tag relates to the target branch,
+	// and we want it to use the 'pr-12345' format.
+	return docker.TagImage(
+		"docker.elastic.co/beats/"+i.artifact+":"+agentVersionBase,
+		"docker.elastic.co/observability-ci/"+i.artifact+":"+i.originalVersion,
+	)
 }
 
 // Postinstall executes operations after installing a Docker package
@@ -178,7 +190,8 @@ func (i *DockerPackage) WithOS(OS string) *DockerPackage {
 
 // WithVersion sets the version
 func (i *DockerPackage) WithVersion(version string) *DockerPackage {
-	i.version = version
+	i.version = e2e.CheckPRVersion(version, agentVersionBase) // sanitize version
+	i.originalVersion = version
 	return i
 }
 
diff --git a/e2e/_suites/fleet/services.go b/e2e/_suites/fleet/services.go
index abb35479fa..5888fd5ca9 100644
--- a/e2e/_suites/fleet/services.go
+++ b/e2e/_suites/fleet/services.go
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ func newDockerInstaller(ubi8 bool, version string) (ElasticAgentInstaller, error
 		WithArch(arch).
 		WithArtifact(artifact).
 		WithOS(os).
-		WithVersion(e2e.CheckPRVersion(version, agentVersionBase)) // sanitize version
+		WithVersion(version)
 
 	return ElasticAgentInstaller{
 		artifactArch:      arch,
diff --git a/e2e/_suites/metricbeat/metricbeat_test.go b/e2e/_suites/metricbeat/metricbeat_test.go
index 0c35e3a7a3..9fbaa23f38 100644
--- a/e2e/_suites/metricbeat/metricbeat_test.go
+++ b/e2e/_suites/metricbeat/metricbeat_test.go
@@ -405,6 +405,11 @@ func (mts *MetricbeatTestSuite) runMetricbeatService() error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+
+		err = docker.TagImage(
+			"docker.elastic.co/beats/metricbeat:"+metricbeatVersionBase,
+			"docker.elastic.co/observability-ci/metricbeat:"+mts.Version,
+		)
 	}
 
 	// this is needed because, in general, the target service (apache, mysql, redis) does not have a healthcheck