diff --git a/changelog/fragments/1736520682-restore-maintainer-label.yaml b/changelog/fragments/1736520682-restore-maintainer-label.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a190ad4fb51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/fragments/1736520682-restore-maintainer-label.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Kind can be one of:
+# - breaking-change: a change to previously-documented behavior
+# - deprecation: functionality that is being removed in a later release
+# - bug-fix: fixes a problem in a previous version
+# - enhancement: extends functionality but does not break or fix existing behavior
+# - feature: new functionality
+# - known-issue: problems that we are aware of in a given version
+# - security: impacts on the security of a product or a user’s deployment.
+# - upgrade: important information for someone upgrading from a prior version
+# - other: does not fit into any of the other categories
+kind: bug-fix
+
+# Change summary; a 80ish characters long description of the change.
+summary: Restore `maintainer` label for container images
+
+# Long description; in case the summary is not enough to describe the change
+# this field accommodate a description without length limits.
+# NOTE: This field will be rendered only for breaking-change and known-issue kinds at the moment.
+#description:
+
+# Affected component; usually one of "elastic-agent", "fleet-server", "filebeat", "metricbeat", "auditbeat", "all", etc.
+component: elastic-agent
+
+# PR URL; optional; the PR number that added the changeset.
+# If not present is automatically filled by the tooling finding the PR where this changelog fragment has been added.
+# NOTE: the tooling supports backports, so it's able to fill the original PR number instead of the backport PR number.
+# Please provide it if you are adding a fragment for a different PR.
+#pr: https://github.com/owner/repo/1234
+
+# Issue URL; optional; the GitHub issue related to this changeset (either closes or is part of).
+# If not present is automatically filled by the tooling with the issue linked to the PR number.
+#issue: https://github.com/owner/repo/1234
diff --git a/dev-tools/packaging/templates/docker/Dockerfile.elastic-agent.tmpl b/dev-tools/packaging/templates/docker/Dockerfile.elastic-agent.tmpl
index 9cd5d73c33d..d6601904b36 100644
--- a/dev-tools/packaging/templates/docker/Dockerfile.elastic-agent.tmpl
+++ b/dev-tools/packaging/templates/docker/Dockerfile.elastic-agent.tmpl
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ LABEL \
   org.opencontainers.image.vendor="{{ .BeatVendor }}" \
   org.opencontainers.image.authors="infra@elastic.co" \
   name="{{ .BeatName }}" \
+  # The maintainer label is deprecated, but RedHat still checks for it in their preflight validation. If we don't set
+  # it here, we inherit it from the base image, and fail said validation.
+  maintainer="infra@elastic.co" \
   vendor="{{ .BeatVendor }}" \
   version="{{ beat_version }}{{if .Snapshot}}-SNAPSHOT{{end}}" \
   release="1" \