diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index 58732af41..f5e48c9eb 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 steps:
-  - label: ":elasticsearch: :python: ES Python ({{ matrix.python }})"
+  - label: ":elasticsearch: :python: ES Python ({{ matrix.python }}) {{ matrix.nox_session }} "
     agents:
       provider: "gcp"
     env:
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ steps:
       TEST_SUITE: "platinum"
       STACK_VERSION: "8.11.0-SNAPSHOT"
       PYTHON_CONNECTION_CLASS: "{{ matrix.connection }}"
+      NOX_SESSION: "{{ matrix.nox_session }}"
     matrix:
       setup:
         python:
@@ -19,4 +20,15 @@ steps:
         connection:
           - "urllib3"
           - "requests"
+        nox_session:
+          - "test"
+      adjustments:
+        - with:
+            python: "3.7"
+            connection: "urllib3"
+            nox_session: "test_otel"
+        - with:
+            python: "3.12"
+            connection: "urllib3"
+            nox_session: "test_otel"
     command: ./.buildkite/run-tests
diff --git a/.buildkite/run-repository.sh b/.buildkite/run-repository.sh
index 466b906cc..2f1f3c263 100755
--- a/.buildkite/run-repository.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/run-repository.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m URL ${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}\033[0m"
 echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m VERSION ${ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION}\033[0m"
 echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m CONTAINER ${ELASTICSEARCH_CONTAINER}\033[0m"
 echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m TEST_SUITE ${TEST_SUITE}\033[0m"
+echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m NOX_SESSION ${NOX_SESSION}\033[0m"
 echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m PYTHON_VERSION ${PYTHON_VERSION}\033[0m"
 echo -e "\033[34;1mINFO:\033[0m PYTHON_CONNECTION_CLASS ${PYTHON_CONNECTION_CLASS}\033[0m"
 
@@ -45,4 +46,4 @@ docker run \
   --name elasticsearch-py \
   --rm \
   elastic/elasticsearch-py \
-  nox -s test-${PYTHON_VERSION}
+  nox -s ${NOX_SESSION}-${PYTHON_VERSION}
diff --git a/dev-requirements.txt b/dev-requirements.txt
index 0167b2e1d..b5b92c283 100644
--- a/dev-requirements.txt
+++ b/dev-requirements.txt
@@ -19,9 +19,6 @@ nox
 numpy
 pandas
 
-opentelemetry-api
-opentelemetry-sdk
-
 # Testing the 'search_mvt' API response
 mapbox-vector-tile
 # Python 3.7 gets an old version of mapbox-vector-tile, requiring an
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 10a57815a..b166bf79a 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -32,13 +32,9 @@
 INSTALL_ENV = {"AIOHTTP_NO_EXTENSIONS": "1"}
 
 
-@nox.session(python=["3.7", "3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"])
-def test(session):
-    session.install(".[async,requests]", env=INSTALL_ENV, silent=False)
-    session.install("-r", "dev-requirements.txt", silent=False)
-
+def pytest_argv():
     junit_xml = os.path.join(SOURCE_DIR, "junit", "elasticsearch-py-junit.xml")
-    pytest_argv = [
+    return [
         "pytest",
         "--cov-report=term-missing",
         "--cov=elasticsearch",
@@ -48,7 +44,29 @@ def test(session):
         "--cache-clear",
         "-vv",
     ]
-    session.run(*pytest_argv)
+
+
+@nox.session(python=["3.7", "3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"])
+def test(session):
+    session.install(".[async,requests]", env=INSTALL_ENV, silent=False)
+    session.install("-r", "dev-requirements.txt", silent=False)
+
+    session.run(*pytest_argv())
+
+
+@nox.session(python=["3.7", "3.12"])
+def test_otel(session):
+    session.install(".[async,requests]", env=INSTALL_ENV, silent=False)
+    session.install(
+        "opentelemetry-api",
+        "opentelemetry-sdk",
+        "-r",
+        "dev-requirements.txt",
+        silent=False,
+    )
+
+    argv = pytest_argv() + ["-m", "otel"]
+    session.run(*argv, env={"TEST_WITH_OTEL": "1"})
 
 
 @nox.session()
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index d54c7cd19..d8e0ce63d 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ ignore = E203, E266, E501, W503
 [tool:pytest]
 junit_family=legacy
 addopts = -vvv --cov-report=term-missing --cov=elasticsearch --cov-config=.coveragerc
+markers = otel
 
 [tool:isort]
 profile=black
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_otel.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_otel.py
index cb420c06f..b90dab8d6 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_otel.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_otel.py
@@ -15,13 +15,29 @@
 #  specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #  under the License.
 
-from opentelemetry import trace
-from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider, export
-from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export.in_memory_span_exporter import InMemorySpanExporter
+import os
+
+import pytest
 
 import elasticsearch
 from test_elasticsearch.utils import CA_CERTS
 
+try:
+    from opentelemetry import trace
+    from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider, export
+    from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export.in_memory_span_exporter import (
+        InMemorySpanExporter,
+    )
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    pass
+
+pytestmark = [
+    pytest.mark.skipif(
+        "TEST_WITH_OTEL" not in os.environ, reason="TEST_WITH_OTEL is not set"
+    ),
+    pytest.mark.otel,
+]
+
 
 def test_otel_end_to_end(monkeypatch, elasticsearch_url: str):
     # Sets the global default tracer provider