diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
index 3b90a34697..39eb7e001e 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ nvgpu-tarball:
 		BASE_TARBALLS="$(NVGPU_BASE_TARBALLS)" \
 		BASE_SERIAL_TARBALLS="rootfs-image-nvidia-gpu-tarball rootfs-image-nvidia-gpu-confidential-tarball" \
 		FINAL_TARBALL_INPUTS="$(NVGPU_FINAL_TARBALL_INPUTS)" \
+		FINAL_TARBALL_MERGE_MODE=passthrough \
 		DEPS=
 else
 nvgpu-tarball:
@@ -304,12 +305,15 @@ kata-deploy-binary-tarball:
 nydus-snapshotter-for-coco-guest-pull-tarball:
 	$(call BUILD_KATA_DEPLOY_COMPONENT,nydus-snapshotter-for-coco-guest-pull)
 
+FINAL_TARBALL_MERGE_MODE ?= merge
+
 merge-builds:
 	$(MK_DIR)/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh \
 		build \
 		"$(MK_DIR)/../../../../versions.yaml" \
 		kata-static.tar.zst \
-		"$(FINAL_TARBALL_INPUTS)"
+		"$(FINAL_TARBALL_INPUTS)" \
+		"$(FINAL_TARBALL_MERGE_MODE)"
 
 .PHONY: install-prebuilt-artifacts
 install-prebuilt-artifacts:
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
index 6ea03ddc5a..cd095ee846 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ kata_build_dir=${1:-build}
 kata_versions_yaml_file=${2:-""}
 output_tarball_name=${3:-kata-static.tar.zst}
 known_tarballs=${4:-""}
+merge_mode=${5:-merge}
 
 tar_path=$(readlink -f "${output_tarball_name}")
 if [[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]]; then
@@ -45,26 +46,35 @@ for c in ${known_tarballs:-kata-static-*.tar.zst}; do
 		echo "skipping missing tarball \"${c}\""
 		continue
 	fi
-	echo "untarring tarball \"${c}\" into ${tarball_content_dir}"
-	tar --zstd -xvf "${c}" -C "${tarball_content_dir}"
+	if [[ "${merge_mode}" == "passthrough" ]]; then
+		echo "copying tarball \"${c}\" into ${tarball_content_dir}"
+		cp "${c}" "${tarball_content_dir}/"
+	else
+		echo "untarring tarball \"${c}\" into ${tarball_content_dir}"
+		tar --zstd -xvf "${c}" -C "${tarball_content_dir}"
+	fi
 done
 
 pushd "${tarball_content_dir}"
-	any_binary=$(find . -path "*/opt/kata/bin/*" -type f | head -1)
-	if [[ -z "${any_binary}" ]]; then
-		echo "Error: No binaries found in opt/kata/bin/" >&2
-		exit 1
-	fi
-	prefix=${any_binary%bin/*}
-
-	if [[ "${RELEASE:-no}" == "yes" ]] && [[ -f "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" ]]; then
-		# In this case the tag was not published yet,
-		# thus we need to rely on the VERSION file.
-		cp "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" "${prefix}/"
+	if [[ "${merge_mode}" == "passthrough" ]]; then
+		[[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]] && cp "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" .
 	else
-		git describe --tags > "${prefix}/VERSION"
+		any_binary=$(find . -path "*/opt/kata/bin/*" -type f | head -1)
+		if [[ -z "${any_binary}" ]]; then
+			echo "Error: No binaries found in opt/kata/bin/" >&2
+			exit 1
+		fi
+		prefix=${any_binary%bin/*}
+
+		if [[ "${RELEASE:-no}" == "yes" ]] && [[ -f "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" ]]; then
+			# In this case the tag was not published yet,
+			# thus we need to rely on the VERSION file.
+			cp "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" "${prefix}/"
+		else
+			git describe --tags > "${prefix}/VERSION"
+		fi
+		[[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]] && cp "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" "${prefix}/"
 	fi
-	[[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]] && cp "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" "${prefix}/"
 popd
 
 echo "create ${tar_path}"