diff --git a/kafka/Dockerfile b/kafka/Dockerfile
index 29f49ed92..33a34cded 100644
--- a/kafka/Dockerfile
+++ b/kafka/Dockerfile
@@ -21,8 +21,13 @@ COPY --chown=${STACKABLE_USER_UID}:0 kafka/stackable/patches/${PRODUCT_VERSION}
 COPY --chown=${STACKABLE_USER_UID}:0 --from=patched-reload4j /stackable/.m2/repository /stackable/patched-reload4j-libs
 
 RUN <<EOF
-mkdir -p /stackable/.m2/repository
-cp -r /stackable/patched-reload4j-libs/* /stackable/.m2/repository
+    # TODO: remove this later.
+    # reload4j jars are only needed of Kafka 3.x
+    case "${PRODUCT_VERSION}" in
+      3*)
+        mkdir -p /stackable/.m2/repository
+        cp -r /stackable/patched-reload4j-libs/* /stackable/.m2/repository
+    esac
 
 cd "$(/stackable/patchable --images-repo-root=src checkout kafka ${PRODUCT_VERSION})"
 
diff --git a/kafka/boil-config.toml b/kafka/boil-config.toml
index e9d30daf8..8376e73f1 100644
--- a/kafka/boil-config.toml
+++ b/kafka/boil-config.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ java-base = "23"
 java-devel = "23"
 "kafka/kcat" = "1.7.0"
 "kafka/kafka-opa-plugin" = "1.5.1"
+# TODO: this is not used in this version but it's added
+# to avoid major changes to the Kafka image build on short notice.
+# Building this image is quick and in CI should not even be noticed.
+"shared/reload4j" = "1.2.25"
 
 [versions."4.1.0".build-arguments]
 scala-version = "2.13"