diff --git a/changelog/fragments/1733131399-vars-for-platform.yaml b/changelog/fragments/1733131399-vars-for-platform.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6873025001f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/fragments/1733131399-vars-for-platform.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: enhancement
+
+# Change summary; a 80ish characters long description of the change.
+summary: Do the external package manager check only at startup
+
+# 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/pkg/component/component.go b/pkg/component/component.go
index 5ee509403e3..06a9820d8ec 100644
--- a/pkg/component/component.go
+++ b/pkg/component/component.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent-libs/logp"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/agent/application/paths"
-	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/agent/install/pkgmgr"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/agent/transpiler"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/core/monitoring/config"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/eql"
@@ -682,7 +681,7 @@ type outputI struct {
 func varsForPlatform(platform PlatformDetail) (*transpiler.Vars, error) {
 	return transpiler.NewVars("", map[string]interface{}{
 		"install": map[string]interface{}{
-			"in_default": paths.ArePathsEqual(paths.Top(), paths.InstallPath(paths.DefaultBasePath)) || pkgmgr.InstalledViaExternalPkgMgr(),
+			"in_default": paths.ArePathsEqual(paths.Top(), paths.InstallPath(paths.DefaultBasePath)) || platform.IsInstalledViaExternalPkgMgr,
 		},
 		"runtime": map[string]interface{}{
 			"platform":    platform.String(),
diff --git a/pkg/component/platforms.go b/pkg/component/platforms.go
index 0875cccc22a..d4f4d7fb656 100644
--- a/pkg/component/platforms.go
+++ b/pkg/component/platforms.go
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import (
 	goruntime "runtime"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/internal/pkg/agent/install/pkgmgr"
+
 	"github.com/elastic/go-sysinfo"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/pkg/utils"
@@ -114,7 +116,8 @@ type PlatformDetail struct {
 	Major      int
 	Minor      int
 
-	User UserDetail
+	IsInstalledViaExternalPkgMgr bool
+	User                         UserDetail
 }
 
 // PlatformModifier can modify the platform details before the runtime specifications are loaded.
@@ -155,6 +158,7 @@ func LoadPlatformDetail(modifiers ...PlatformModifier) (PlatformDetail, error) {
 		User: UserDetail{
 			Root: hasRoot,
 		},
+		IsInstalledViaExternalPkgMgr: pkgmgr.InstalledViaExternalPkgMgr(),
 	}
 	for _, modifier := range modifiers {
 		detail = modifier(detail)