diff --git a/.env b/.env
index adc21721c8..1884a7157f 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ COLLECTOR_CONTRIB_IMAGE=otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:0.108.0
 FLAGD_IMAGE=ghcr.io/open-feature/flagd:v0.11.2
 GRAFANA_IMAGE=grafana/grafana:11.2.0
 JAEGERTRACING_IMAGE=jaegertracing/all-in-one:1.60
-# must also update version field in ./src/grafana/provisioning/datasources/opensearch.yaml
-OPENSEARCH_IMAGE=opensearchproject/opensearch:2.16.0
+OPENSEARCH_IMAGE_VERSION=2.17.1
+OPENSEARCH_IMAGE=opensearchproject/opensearch:${OPENSEARCH_IMAGE_VERSION}
 POSTGRES_IMAGE=postgres:16.4
 PROMETHEUS_IMAGE=quay.io/prometheus/prometheus:v2.54.1
 VALKEY_IMAGE=valkey/valkey:8.0-alpine
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3c0ab4f447..faa6dcfde8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ the release.
   ([#1709](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1709))
 * [chore] Add depends on to otelcol to wait on healthy opensearch
   ([#1724](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1724))
+* [flagd-ui] Add UI for managing Flagd feature flags
+  ([#1725](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1725))
 * [accountingservice] bump OpenTelemetry .NET Automatic Instrumentation
   to 1.8.0 together with other dependencies
   ([#1727](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1727))
@@ -23,8 +25,8 @@ the release.
 * [frontend] fix imageSlowLoad headers not applied
   to 1.8.0 together with other dependencies
   ([#1733](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1733))
-* [flagd-ui] Add UI for managing Flagd feature flags
-  ([#1725](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1725))
+* [chore] Move opensearch image version to .env file
+  ([#1743](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1743))
 * [cartservice] Update cart service to fail when cartServiceFailure is enabled
   ([#1748](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-demo/pull/1748))
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.minimal.yml b/docker-compose.minimal.yml
index 0eb1f96485..e01c0fb69a 100644
--- a/docker-compose.minimal.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.minimal.yml
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ services:
           memory: 100M
     restart: unless-stopped
     environment:
-      - "GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-opensearch-datasource"
+      - "GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-opensearch-datasource ${OPENSEARCH_IMAGE_VERSION}"
     volumes:
       - ./src/grafana/grafana.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini
       - ./src/grafana/provisioning/:/etc/grafana/provisioning/
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index cb91e09bc9..7580a96d4c 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ services:
           memory: 100M
     restart: unless-stopped
     environment:
-      - "GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-opensearch-datasource"
+      - "GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-opensearch-datasource ${OPENSEARCH_IMAGE_VERSION}"
     volumes:
       - ./src/grafana/grafana.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini
       - ./src/grafana/provisioning/:/etc/grafana/provisioning/
diff --git a/src/grafana/provisioning/datasources/opensearch.yaml b/src/grafana/provisioning/datasources/opensearch.yaml
index 4d23b5f7b5..d1c1671762 100644
--- a/src/grafana/provisioning/datasources/opensearch.yaml
+++ b/src/grafana/provisioning/datasources/opensearch.yaml
@@ -17,4 +17,3 @@ datasources:
       logMessageField: body
       pplEnabled: true
       timeField: observedTimestamp
-      version: 2.16.0