diff --git a/hack/prepare-for-integration-tests.sh b/hack/prepare-for-integration-tests.sh
index 921812e0..24ba56db 100755
--- a/hack/prepare-for-integration-tests.sh
+++ b/hack/prepare-for-integration-tests.sh
@@ -205,13 +205,14 @@ registry_repo_tag="${registry_repo}:${tag}"
 
 if [[ "$do_build" == "yes" ]]; then
   # Rebuild the code
+  testing_version="${KUBE_GIT_VERSION:-}"
   if [[ "$dockerfile_path"  != "" ]]; then
-    log_note "Docker building the app with dockerfile $dockerfile_path and KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$KUBE_GIT_VERSION"
-    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build . --tag "$registry_repo_tag" --file "$dockerfile_path" --build-arg "KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$KUBE_GIT_VERSION"
+    log_note "Docker building the app with dockerfile $dockerfile_path and KUBE_GIT_VERSION='$testing_version'"
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build . --tag "$registry_repo_tag" --file "$dockerfile_path" --build-arg "KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$testing_version"
   else
-    log_note "Docker building the app with KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$KUBE_GIT_VERSION"
+    log_note "Docker building the app with KUBE_GIT_VERSION='$testing_version'"
     # DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 is optional on MacOS but required on linux.
-    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build . --tag "$registry_repo_tag" --build-arg "KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$KUBE_GIT_VERSION"
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build . --tag "$registry_repo_tag" --build-arg "KUBE_GIT_VERSION=$testing_version"
   fi
 fi