diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e_custom_cl.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e_custom_cl.yml
index 9b545c7c6..48429e11c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e_custom_cl.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e_custom_cl.yml
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@ on:
         description: Chainlink repo branch to integrate with
         required: true
         default: develop
-        type: string
+        type: [opened, synchronize, reopened, edited]
 
 env:
   CL_ECR: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER }}.dkr.ecr.${{ secrets.QA_AWS_REGION }}.amazonaws.com/chainlink
+  CUSTOM_CORE_REF: develop
   CONTRACT_ARTIFACTS_PATH: contracts/target/deploy
   MOD_CACHE_VERSION: 1
 
@@ -60,12 +61,20 @@ jobs:
       id-token: write
       contents: read
     steps:
+      - name: Get core ref from PR body
+        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        run: |
+          comment=$(gh pr view "https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/pull/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}" --json body -q '.body')
+          core_ref=$(echo "$comment" | grep -oP 'core ref: \K\S+' || true)
+          if [ ! -n "$core_ref" ]; then
+            echo "CUSTOM_CORE_REF=${core_ref}" >> "${GITHUB_ENV}"
+          fi
       - name: Check if image exists
         id: check-image
         uses: smartcontractkit/chainlink-github-actions/docker/image-exists@ad22fbd6f4d108b82aaf49b527bcf40f32babea8 # v2.2.1
         with:
           repository: chainlink
-          tag: solana.${{ github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
+          tag: solana.${{ env.CUSTOM_CORE_REF || github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
           AWS_REGION: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_REGION }}
           AWS_ROLE_TO_ASSUME: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_ROLE_TO_ASSUME }}
       - name: Build Image
@@ -73,9 +82,9 @@ jobs:
         uses: smartcontractkit/chainlink-github-actions/chainlink-testing-framework/build-image@d5ab9fe53da374dd789b5d9ef10f3282197e088d # we will want to switch to this once cosmos settles back down 336617ae6d70fec60c15cc3382e17a4d2615a801 # v2.2.0
         with:
           cl_repo: smartcontractkit/chainlink
-          cl_ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref }}
+          cl_ref: ${{ env.CUSTOM_CORE_REF || github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref }}
           dep_solana_sha: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
-          push_tag: ${{ env.CL_ECR }}:solana.${{ github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
+          push_tag: ${{ env.CL_ECR }}:solana.${{ env.CUSTOM_CORE_REF || github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
           QA_AWS_REGION: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_REGION }}
           QA_AWS_ROLE_TO_ASSUME: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_ROLE_TO_ASSUME }}
 
@@ -122,7 +131,7 @@ jobs:
           test_download_vendor_packages_command: cd ./integration-tests && go mod download
           go_mod_path: ./integration-tests/go.mod
           cl_repo: ${{ env.CL_ECR }}
-          cl_image_tag: solana.${{ github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
+          cl_image_tag: solana.${{ env.CUSTOM_CORE_REF || github.event.inputs.cl_branch_ref || github.sha }}
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           aws_registries: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER }}
           artifacts_name: smoke-test-logs