diff --git a/tests/e2e-backends/backend_test.go b/tests/e2e-backends/backend_test.go
index 605f32f70..5888ac5a7 100644
--- a/tests/e2e-backends/backend_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e-backends/backend_test.go
@@ -194,7 +194,14 @@ var _ = Describe("Backend container", Ordered, func() {
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
 		image := os.Getenv("BACKEND_IMAGE")
-		Expect(image).NotTo(BeEmpty(), "BACKEND_IMAGE env var must be set (e.g. local-ai-backend:llama-cpp)")
+		// BACKEND_BINARY is an escape hatch for hardware-gated backends (e.g. ds4)
+		// where building a full Docker image around an 80+ GB model is impractical.
+		// Points at a `run.sh` produced by `make -C backend/cpp/<name> package`.
+		binary := os.Getenv("BACKEND_BINARY")
+		Expect(image != "" || binary != "").To(BeTrue(),
+			"either BACKEND_IMAGE or BACKEND_BINARY env var must be set")
+		Expect(image != "" && binary != "").To(BeFalse(),
+			"BACKEND_IMAGE and BACKEND_BINARY are mutually exclusive")
 
 		modelURL := os.Getenv("BACKEND_TEST_MODEL_URL")
 		modelFile = os.Getenv("BACKEND_TEST_MODEL_FILE")
@@ -223,10 +230,13 @@ var _ = Describe("Backend container", Ordered, func() {
 		workDir, err = os.MkdirTemp("", "backend-e2e-*")
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
-		// Extract the image filesystem so we can run run.sh directly.
-		binaryDir = filepath.Join(workDir, "rootfs")
-		Expect(os.MkdirAll(binaryDir, 0o755)).To(Succeed())
-		extractImage(image, binaryDir)
+		if image != "" {
+			binaryDir = filepath.Join(workDir, "rootfs")
+			Expect(os.MkdirAll(binaryDir, 0o755)).To(Succeed())
+			extractImage(image, binaryDir)
+		} else {
+			binaryDir = filepath.Dir(binary)
+		}
 		Expect(filepath.Join(binaryDir, "run.sh")).To(BeAnExistingFile())
 
 		// Download the model once if not provided and no HF name given.