diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
index bcbe1740630ce..42d3a770dbbcc 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public void apply(Project project) {
                 addDistributionSysprop(t, DISTRIBUTION_SYSPROP, distribution::getFilepath);
                 addDistributionSysprop(t, EXAMPLE_PLUGIN_SYSPROP, () -> examplePlugin.getSingleFile().toString());
                 t.exclude("**/PackageUpgradeTests.class");
-            }, distribution.getArchiveDependencies(), examplePlugin.getDependencies());
+            }, distribution, examplePlugin.getDependencies());
 
             if (distribution.getPlatform() == Platform.WINDOWS) {
                 windowsTestTasks.add(destructiveTask);
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ private static ElasticsearchDistribution createDistro(
                 d.setBundledJdk(bundledJdk);
             }
             d.setVersion(version);
+            d.setPreferArchive(true);
         });
 
         // Allow us to gracefully omit building Docker distributions if Docker is not available on the system.
diff --git a/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ElasticsearchDistribution.java b/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ElasticsearchDistribution.java
index f9805680ce8d4..eca0fb319cea4 100644
--- a/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ElasticsearchDistribution.java
+++ b/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/ElasticsearchDistribution.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ public String toString() {
     private final Property<Platform> platform;
     private final Property<Boolean> bundledJdk;
     private final Property<Boolean> failIfUnavailable;
+    private final Property<Boolean> preferArchive;
     private final ConfigurableFileCollection extracted;
     private Action<ElasticsearchDistribution> distributionFinalizer;
     private boolean frozen = false;
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ public String toString() {
         this.platform = objectFactory.property(Platform.class);
         this.bundledJdk = objectFactory.property(Boolean.class);
         this.failIfUnavailable = objectFactory.property(Boolean.class).convention(true);
+        this.preferArchive = objectFactory.property(Boolean.class).convention(false);
         this.extracted = extractedConfiguration;
         this.distributionFinalizer = distributionFinalizer;
     }
@@ -141,6 +143,14 @@ public void setFailIfUnavailable(boolean failIfUnavailable) {
         this.failIfUnavailable.set(failIfUnavailable);
     }
 
+    public boolean getPreferArchive() {
+        return preferArchive.get();
+    }
+
+    public void setPreferArchive(boolean preferArchive) {
+        this.preferArchive.set(preferArchive);
+    }
+
     public void setArchitecture(Architecture architecture) {
         this.architecture.set(architecture);
     }
@@ -188,7 +198,9 @@ public TaskDependency getBuildDependencies() {
             return task -> Collections.emptySet();
         } else {
             maybeFreeze();
-            return getType().shouldExtract() ? extracted.getBuildDependencies() : configuration.getBuildDependencies();
+            return getType().shouldExtract() && (preferArchive.get() == false)
+                ? extracted.getBuildDependencies()
+                : configuration.getBuildDependencies();
         }
     }
 
@@ -253,13 +265,4 @@ void finalizeValues() {
         type.finalizeValue();
         bundledJdk.finalizeValue();
     }
-
-    public TaskDependency getArchiveDependencies() {
-        if (skippingDockerDistributionBuild()) {
-            return task -> Collections.emptySet();
-        } else {
-            maybeFreeze();
-            return configuration.getBuildDependencies();
-        }
-    }
 }