diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/Intellij.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/Intellij.java
index 5fc54fe44..42538d7db 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/Intellij.java
+++ b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/Intellij.java
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.CliArgument;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.common.Tag;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.IdeContext;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.environment.EnvironmentVariables;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.environment.EnvironmentVariablesType;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.io.FileAccess;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.process.ProcessMode;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.tool.ide.IdeToolCommandlet;
@@ -68,6 +70,9 @@ public boolean install(boolean silent) {
   protected void postInstall() {
 
     super.postInstall();
+    EnvironmentVariables envVars = this.context.getVariables().getByType(EnvironmentVariablesType.CONF);
+    envVars.set("IDEA_PROPERTIES", this.context.getWorkspacePath().resolve("idea.properties").toString(), true);
+    envVars.save();
     if (this.context.getSystemInfo().isMac()) {
       setMacOsFilePermissions(getToolPath().resolve("IntelliJ IDEA" + generateMacEditionString() + ".app").resolve("Contents").resolve("MacOS").resolve(IDEA));
     }
diff --git a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/variable/IdeVariables.java b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/variable/IdeVariables.java
index 46cf87038..bc0a4b47b 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/variable/IdeVariables.java
+++ b/cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/variable/IdeVariables.java
@@ -80,15 +80,10 @@ public interface IdeVariables {
   VariableDefinitionBoolean IDE_VARIABLE_SYNTAX_LEGACY_SUPPORT_ENABLED = new VariableDefinitionBoolean("IDE_VARIABLE_SYNTAX_LEGACY_SUPPORT_ENABLED", null,
       c -> Boolean.TRUE);
 
-  /**
-   * {@link VariableDefinition} for IDEA_PROPERTIES (used to overwrite idea.properties location).
-   */
-  VariableDefinitionPath IDEA_PROPERTIES = new VariableDefinitionPath("IDEA_PROPERTIES", null, c -> c.getWorkspacePath().resolve("idea.properties"), true);
-
   /** A {@link Collection} with all pre-defined {@link VariableDefinition}s. */
   Collection<VariableDefinition<?>> VARIABLES = List.of(PATH, HOME, WORKSPACE_PATH, IDE_HOME, IDE_ROOT, WORKSPACE, IDE_TOOLS, CREATE_START_SCRIPTS,
       IDE_MIN_VERSION, MVN_VERSION, M2_REPO, DOCKER_EDITION, MVN_BUILD_OPTS, NPM_BUILD_OPTS, GRADLE_BUILD_OPTS, YARN_BUILD_OPTS, JASYPT_OPTS, MAVEN_ARGS,
-      PROJECT_NAME, IDE_VARIABLE_SYNTAX_LEGACY_SUPPORT_ENABLED, IDEA_PROPERTIES);
+      PROJECT_NAME, IDE_VARIABLE_SYNTAX_LEGACY_SUPPORT_ENABLED);
 
   /**
    * @param name the name of the requested {@link VariableDefinition}.
diff --git a/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/IntellijTest.java b/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/IntellijTest.java
index 3a80c53fa..7f91568bc 100644
--- a/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/IntellijTest.java
+++ b/cli/src/test/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/tool/intellij/IntellijTest.java
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ public void testIntellijRun(String os) {
   private void checkInstallation(IdeTestContext context) {
 
     assertThat(context.getSoftwarePath().resolve("intellij/.ide.software.version")).exists().hasContent("2023.3.3");
+    assertThat(context.getVariables().get("IDEA_PROPERTIES")).isEqualTo(context.getWorkspacePath().resolve("idea.properties").toString());
     assertLogMessage(context, IdeLogLevel.SUCCESS, "Successfully installed java in version 17.0.10_7");
     assertLogMessage(context, IdeLogLevel.SUCCESS, "Successfully installed intellij in version 2023.3.3");
   }
diff --git a/cli/src/test/resources/ide-projects/intellij/project/conf/ide.properties b/cli/src/test/resources/ide-projects/intellij/project/conf/ide.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3e9d226d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/src/test/resources/ide-projects/intellij/project/conf/ide.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# here the INTELLIJ_PROPERTIES variable should be added by the test