diff --git a/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template.go b/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template.go
index c826ea6ea980..b0a818b2b01d 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template.go
@@ -190,12 +190,19 @@ func generatePodTemplate(
 		finalLabels         = cfg.Labels.Merge(podLabels)
 	)
 
-	envVars := []core_v1.EnvVar{{
-		Name: "POD_NAME",
-		ValueFrom: &core_v1.EnvVarSource{
-			FieldRef: &core_v1.ObjectFieldSelector{FieldPath: "metadata.name"},
+	envVars := []core_v1.EnvVar{
+		{
+			Name: "POD_NAME",
+			ValueFrom: &core_v1.EnvVarSource{
+				FieldRef: &core_v1.ObjectFieldSelector{FieldPath: "metadata.name"},
+			},
 		},
-	}}
+		// Allows the agent to identify this is an operator-created pod.
+		{
+			Name:  "AGENT_OPERATOR",
+			Value: "1",
+		},
+	}
 	envVars = append(envVars, opts.ExtraEnvVars...)
 
 	useConfigReloaderVersion := d.Agent.Spec.ConfigReloaderVersion
diff --git a/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template_test.go b/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template_test.go
index eb855820cc9d..4e5702a50893 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template_test.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/resources_pod_template_test.go
@@ -155,4 +155,17 @@ func Test_generatePodTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, tmpl.Spec.RuntimeClassName)
 	})
+
+	t.Run("AGENT_OPERATOR env ser", func(t *testing.T) {
+		deploy := gragent.Deployment{
+			Agent: &gragent.GrafanaAgent{
+				ObjectMeta: v1.ObjectMeta{Name: name, Namespace: name},
+			},
+		}
+
+		tmpl, _, err := generatePodTemplate(cfg, "agent", deploy, podTemplateOptions{})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, "1", tmpl.Spec.Containers[1].Env[1].Value)
+		require.Equal(t, "AGENT_OPERATOR", tmpl.Spec.Containers[1].Env[1].Name)
+	})
 }