diff --git a/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/docker-compose.yml b/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/docker-compose.yml
index 6f06075..f1d46cc 100644
--- a/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/docker-compose.yml
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ services:
       # The public facing docs have the publicly available mongot image but here
       # we use the image published to the internal registry.
 
-      # Note that you first need to login to the registry by following the docs
+      # Note that to use the internal releases you first need to login to the registry by following the docs
       # here:
       # https://github.com/10gen/mongot/blob/master/docs/development/docker.md#authenticate-with-ecr
-      # image: mongodb/mongodb-community-search:latest
-      image: 901841024863.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mongot-community/rapid-releases:latest
+      # image:
+      image: ${MONGOT_IMAGE:-mongodb/mongodb-community-search:latest}
       networks:
          - search-community
       volumes:
diff --git a/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/start-services.sh b/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/start-services.sh
index 9cd7498..dbc7548 100644
--- a/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/start-services.sh
+++ b/.evergreen/mongodb-community-search/start-services.sh
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ fi
 
 docker network create search-community || true
 docker compose down || true
+
+if [ -n "${USE_INTERNAL_MONGOT:-}" ]; then
+  export MONGOT_IMAGE="901841024863.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mongot-community/rapid-releases:latest"
+fi
 docker compose up -d
 
 # Wait for the healthcheck