diff --git a/build/Dockerfile b/build/Dockerfile
index 0473c43d3d..8ce48e499c 100644
--- a/build/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/Dockerfile
@@ -546,6 +546,8 @@ ARG IC_VERSION
 ARG TARGETPLATFORM
 ARG NAP_MODULES=none
 
+ENV BUILD_OS=${BUILD_OS}
+
 RUN --mount=type=bind,target=/tmp \
 	--mount=type=bind,from=nginx-files,src=common.sh,target=/usr/local/bin/common.sh \
 	--mount=type=bind,from=nginx-files,src=patch-os.sh,target=/usr/local/bin/patch-os.sh \
diff --git a/cmd/nginx-ingress/main.go b/cmd/nginx-ingress/main.go
index f646199045..a9b7036000 100644
--- a/cmd/nginx-ingress/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nginx-ingress/main.go
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ func main() {
 	parseFlags()
 	parsedFlags := os.Args[1:]
 
+	buildOS := os.Getenv("BUILD_OS")
+
 	config, kubeClient := createConfigAndKubeClient()
 
 	kubernetesVersionInfo(kubeClient)
@@ -230,6 +232,7 @@ func main() {
 		WatchNamespaceLabel:          *watchNamespaceLabel,
 		EnableTelemetryReporting:     *enableTelemetryReporting,
 		TelemetryReportingEndpoint:   telemetryEndpoint,
+		BuildOS:                      buildOS,
 		NICVersion:                   version,
 		DynamicWeightChangesReload:   *enableDynamicWeightChangesReload,
 		InstallationFlags:            parsedFlags,
diff --git a/docs/content/overview/product-telemetry.md b/docs/content/overview/product-telemetry.md
index 39c92802c2..bd4cc57b77 100644
--- a/docs/content/overview/product-telemetry.md
+++ b/docs/content/overview/product-telemetry.md
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ These are the data points collected and reported by NGINX Ingress Controller:
 - **AppProtectVersion** The AppProtect version
 - **IsPlus** Represents whether NGINX is Plus or OSS
 - **InstallationFlags** List of command line arguments configured for NGINX Ingress Controller
+- **BuildOS** The base operating system image in which NGINX Ingress Controller is running on.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/internal/k8s/controller.go b/internal/k8s/controller.go
index 6968dfb9e5..fa20ad1979 100644
--- a/internal/k8s/controller.go
+++ b/internal/k8s/controller.go
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ type NewLoadBalancerControllerInput struct {
 	WatchNamespaceLabel          string
 	EnableTelemetryReporting     bool
 	TelemetryReportingEndpoint   string
+	BuildOS                      string
 	NICVersion                   string
 	DynamicWeightChangesReload   bool
 	InstallationFlags            []string
@@ -371,6 +372,7 @@ func NewLoadBalancerController(input NewLoadBalancerControllerInput) *LoadBalanc
 			K8sClientReader:     input.KubeClient,
 			Version:             input.NICVersion,
 			AppProtectVersion:   input.AppProtectVersion,
+			BuildOS:             input.BuildOS,
 			InstallationFlags:   input.InstallationFlags,
 			GlobalConfiguration: lbc.watchGlobalConfiguration,
 			Configurator:        lbc.configurator,
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/cluster.go b/internal/telemetry/cluster.go
index f44bb45375..0afbd9be10 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/cluster.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/cluster.go
@@ -231,6 +231,11 @@ func (c *Collector) ServiceCounts() (map[string]int, error) {
 	return serviceCounts, nil
 }
 
+// BuildOS returns a string which is the base operating system image tha NIC is running in.
+func (c *Collector) BuildOS() string {
+	return c.Config.BuildOS
+}
+
 // lookupPlatform takes a string representing a K8s PlatformID
 // retrieved from a cluster node and returns a string
 // representing the platform name.
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/collector.go b/internal/telemetry/collector.go
index 4c480670bf..1a86983429 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/collector.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/collector.go
@@ -75,6 +75,9 @@ type CollectorConfig struct {
 	// AppProtectVersion represents the version of App Protect.
 	AppProtectVersion string
 
+	// BuildOS represents the base operating system image
+	BuildOS string
+
 	// IsPlus represents whether NGINX is Plus or OSS
 	IsPlus bool
 
@@ -154,6 +157,7 @@ func (c *Collector) Collect(ctx context.Context) {
 			AppProtectVersion:     report.AppProtectVersion,
 			IsPlus:                report.IsPlus,
 			InstallationFlags:     report.InstallationFlags,
+			BuildOS:               report.BuildOS,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -203,6 +207,7 @@ type Report struct {
 	AppProtectVersion    string
 	IsPlus               bool
 	InstallationFlags    []string
+	BuildOS              string
 }
 
 // BuildReport takes context, collects telemetry data and builds the report.
@@ -334,5 +339,6 @@ func (c *Collector) BuildReport(ctx context.Context) (Report, error) {
 		AppProtectVersion:    appProtectVersion,
 		IsPlus:               isPlus,
 		InstallationFlags:    installationFlags,
+		BuildOS:              c.BuildOS(),
 	}, err
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/collector_test.go b/internal/telemetry/collector_test.go
index 992265a72e..7a29d87b83 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/collector_test.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/collector_test.go
@@ -1129,6 +1129,65 @@ func TestCollectInstallationFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCollectBuildOS(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name    string
+		buildOS string
+		wantOS  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "debian plus image",
+			buildOS: "debian-plus",
+			wantOS:  "debian-plus",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "ubi-9 plus app protect image",
+			buildOS: "ubi-9-plus-nap",
+			wantOS:  "ubi-9-plus-nap",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "alpine oss image",
+			buildOS: "alpine",
+			wantOS:  "alpine",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "self built image",
+			buildOS: "",
+			wantOS:  "",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+			exp := &telemetry.StdoutExporter{Endpoint: buf}
+
+			configurator := newConfiguratorWithIngress(t)
+
+			cfg := telemetry.CollectorConfig{
+				Configurator:    configurator,
+				K8sClientReader: newTestClientset(node1, kubeNS),
+				Version:         telemetryNICData.ProjectVersion,
+				BuildOS:         tc.buildOS,
+			}
+
+			c, err := telemetry.NewCollector(cfg, telemetry.WithExporter(exp))
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			c.Collect(context.Background())
+
+			buildOS := c.BuildOS()
+
+			if tc.wantOS != buildOS {
+				t.Errorf("want: %s, got: %s", tc.wantOS, buildOS)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCountVirtualServersOnCustomResourceEnabled(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/data.avdl b/internal/telemetry/data.avdl
index f37eb01948..bf244800f5 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/data.avdl
+++ b/internal/telemetry/data.avdl
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 @namespace("ingress.nginx.com") protocol NICProductTelemetry {
-	/** Data is the product telemetry data of NGINX Ingress Controller. */
 	@df_datatype("nic-product-telemetry") record Data {
 		/** The field that identifies what type of data this is. */
 		string dataType;
@@ -115,5 +114,8 @@ It is the UID of the `kube-system` Namespace. */
 		/** InstallationFlags is the list of command line arguments configured for NGINX Ingress Controller */
 		union {null, array<string>} InstallationFlags = null;
 
+		/** BuildOS returns the base buildOS image */
+		string? BuildOS = null;
+
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/exporter.go b/internal/telemetry/exporter.go
index aac38756c5..109e453ffe 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/exporter.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/exporter.go
@@ -119,4 +119,6 @@ type NICResourceCounts struct {
 	IsPlus bool
 	// InstallationFlags is the list of command line arguments configured for NGINX Ingress Controller
 	InstallationFlags []string
+	// BuildOS represents the base operating system image
+	BuildOS string
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/nicresourcecounts_attributes_generated.go b/internal/telemetry/nicresourcecounts_attributes_generated.go
index f68e171f7c..ca8939a20d 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/nicresourcecounts_attributes_generated.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/nicresourcecounts_attributes_generated.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func (d *NICResourceCounts) Attributes() []attribute.KeyValue {
 	attrs = append(attrs, attribute.String("AppProtectVersion", d.AppProtectVersion))
 	attrs = append(attrs, attribute.Bool("IsPlus", d.IsPlus))
 	attrs = append(attrs, attribute.StringSlice("InstallationFlags", d.InstallationFlags))
+	attrs = append(attrs, attribute.String("BuildOS", d.BuildOS))
 
 	return attrs
 }