diff --git a/tests/README.md b/tests/README.md
index 7a1d4e733945b..a64946c892a71 100644
--- a/tests/README.md
+++ b/tests/README.md
@@ -49,12 +49,13 @@ TC_PATHS="tests/kafkatest/tests/streams/streams_upgrade_test.py::StreamsUpgradeT
 ```
 * Run tests with a specific image name
 ```
-image_name="ducker-ak-openjdk:17-buster" bash tests/docker/run_tests.sh
+image_name="ducker-ak-openjdk:17" bash tests/docker/run_tests.sh
 ```
 * Run tests with a different JVM
 ```
-bash tests/docker/ducker-ak up -j 'openjdk:17-buster'; tests/docker/run_tests.sh
+bash tests/docker/ducker-ak up -j '<JDK_IMAGE>'; tests/docker/run_tests.sh
 ```
+  You can customize the OpenJDK base image using the `-j` or `--jdk` parameter, otherwise a default value will be used.
 * Remove ducker-ak containers
 ```
 bash tests/docker/ducker-ak down -f
diff --git a/tests/docker/Dockerfile b/tests/docker/Dockerfile
index 87078db195b92..01c1a0533d3b1 100644
--- a/tests/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# The base image of openjdk:17 is typically oraclelinux:8-slim, which doesn't include apt-get. 
-# Therefore, use openjdk:17-buster instead.
-ARG jdk_version=openjdk:17-buster
+ARG jdk_version
 FROM $jdk_version AS build-native-image
 
 WORKDIR /build
diff --git a/tests/docker/ducker-ak b/tests/docker/ducker-ak
index 05af5ac9bb122..68aed30923f96 100755
--- a/tests/docker/ducker-ak
+++ b/tests/docker/ducker-ak
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ docker_run_memory_limit="2000m"
 default_num_nodes=14
 
 # The default OpenJDK base image.
-default_jdk="openjdk:17-buster"
+# The base image of openjdk:17 is typically oraclelinux:8-slim, which doesn't include apt-get. 
+# Therefore, use openjdk:17-bullseye instead.
+default_jdk="openjdk:17-bullseye"
 
 # The default ducker-ak image name.
 default_image_name="ducker-ak"
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ help|-h|--help
     Display this help message
 
 up [-n|--num-nodes NUM_NODES] [-f|--force] [docker-image]
-        [-C|--custom-ducktape DIR] [-e|--expose-ports ports] [--ipv6]
+        [-C|--custom-ducktape DIR] [-e|--expose-ports ports] [-j|--jdk JDK_VERSION] [--ipv6]
     Bring up a cluster with the specified amount of nodes (defaults to ${default_num_nodes}).
     The docker image name defaults to ${default_image_name}.  If --force is specified, we will
     attempt to bring up an image even some parameters are not valid.
@@ -84,6 +86,9 @@ up [-n|--num-nodes NUM_NODES] [-f|--force] [docker-image]
     or a combination of port/port-range separated by comma (like 2181,9092 or 2181,5005-5008).
     By default no port is exposed. See README.md for more detail on this option.
 
+    If -j|--jdk is specified, you can customize the OpenJDK base image used for building
+    the ducker container. Defaults to ${default_jdk}. Example: -j openjdk:17-bullseye
+
     If --ipv6 is specified, we will create a Docker network with IPv6 enabled.
     
     Note that port 5678 will be automatically exposed for ducker01 node and will be mapped to 5678