diff --git a/package/Dockerfile b/package/Dockerfile
index 374986a7fef..bf98327799c 100644
--- a/package/Dockerfile
+++ b/package/Dockerfile
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ WORKDIR /var/lib/rancher
 ARG ARCH=amd64
 ARG ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH
 ARG IMAGE_REPO=rancher
-ARG SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=release-v2.9
-ARG CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=release-v2.9
+ARG SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=dev-v2.9
+ARG CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=dev-v2.9
 ARG PARTNER_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=main
 ARG RKE2_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=main
 # kontainer-driver-metadata branch to be set for specific branch other than dev/master, logic at rancher/rancher/pkg/settings/setting.go
diff --git a/pkg/settings/setting.go b/pkg/settings/setting.go
index d55894268d5..206fdb63ad5 100644
--- a/pkg/settings/setting.go
+++ b/pkg/settings/setting.go
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ var (
 	ClusterTemplateEnforcement          = NewSetting("cluster-template-enforcement", "false")
 	InitialDockerRootDir                = NewSetting("initial-docker-root-dir", "/var/lib/docker")
 	SystemCatalog                       = NewSetting("system-catalog", "external") // Options are 'external' or 'bundled'
-	ChartDefaultBranch                  = NewSetting("chart-default-branch", "release-v2.9")
+	ChartDefaultBranch                  = NewSetting("chart-default-branch", "dev-v2.9")
 	SystemManagedChartsOperationTimeout = NewSetting("system-managed-charts-operation-timeout", "300s")
 	FleetDefaultWorkspaceName           = NewSetting("fleet-default-workspace-name", fleetconst.ClustersDefaultNamespace) // fleetWorkspaceName to assign to clusters with none
 	ShellImage                          = NewSetting("shell-image", buildconfig.DefaultShellVersion)
diff --git a/scripts/package-env b/scripts/package-env
index ba3ad68176c..f9a0651a3a3 100644
--- a/scripts/package-env
+++ b/scripts/package-env
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 ARCH=${ARCH:-"amd64"}
 SYSTEM_CHART_REPO_DIR=build/system-charts
-SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=${SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH:-"release-v2.9"}
+SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=${SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH:-"dev-v2.9"}
 CHART_REPO_DIR=build/charts
-CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=${CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH:-"release-v2.9"}
+CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=${CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH:-"dev-v2.9"}
 
 REGISTRY=${REGISTRY:-""}
 IMAGE=${REGISTRY}${REPO}/rancher:${TAG}
diff --git a/tests/v2/codecoverage/package/Dockerfile b/tests/v2/codecoverage/package/Dockerfile
index 8d1222277f1..b3ee74f099a 100644
--- a/tests/v2/codecoverage/package/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/v2/codecoverage/package/Dockerfile
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ WORKDIR /var/lib/rancher
 ARG ARCH=amd64
 ARG ETCD_UNSUPPORTED_ARCH
 ARG IMAGE_REPO=rancher
-ARG SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=release-v2.9
-ARG CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=release-v2.9
+ARG SYSTEM_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=dev-v2.9
+ARG CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=dev-v2.9
 ARG PARTNER_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=main
 ARG RKE2_CHART_DEFAULT_BRANCH=main
 # kontainer-driver-metadata branch to be set for specific branch other than dev/master, logic at rancher/rancher/pkg/settings/setting.go