diff --git a/parts/linux/cloud-init/artifacts/cse_start.sh b/parts/linux/cloud-init/artifacts/cse_start.sh
index e054f77e668..bc1fce5d7e3 100644
--- a/parts/linux/cloud-init/artifacts/cse_start.sh
+++ b/parts/linux/cloud-init/artifacts/cse_start.sh
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ SYSTEMD_SUMMARY=$(systemd-analyze || true)
 CSE_ENDTIME_FORMATTED=$(date +"%F %T.%3N")
 EVENTS_FILE_NAME=$(date +%s%3N)
 EXECUTION_DURATION=$(($(date +%s) - $(date -d "$CSE_STARTTIME" +%s)))
+SCRIPTLESS_MODE=false
+
+if [ -f "/opt/azure/containers/scriptless-cse-overrides.txt" ]; then
+    SCRIPTLESS_MODE=true
+fi
 
 JSON_STRING=$( jq -n \
                   --arg ec "$EXIT_CODE" \
@@ -75,8 +80,9 @@ message_string=$( jq -n \
 --arg NETWORKD_STARTTIME_FORMATTED        "${NETWORKD_STARTTIME_FORMATTED}" \
 --arg GUEST_AGENT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED     "${GUEST_AGENT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED}" \
 --arg KUBELET_START_TIME_FORMATTED        "${KUBELET_START_TIME_FORMATTED}" \
---arg KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED       "${KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED}" \
-'{ExitCode: $EXIT_CODE, E2E: $EXECUTION_DURATION, KernelStartTime: $KERNEL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudInitLocalStartTime: $CLOUDINITLOCAL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudInitStartTime: $CLOUDINIT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudFinalStartTime: $CLOUDINITFINAL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, NetworkdStartTime: $NETWORKD_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, GuestAgentStartTime: $GUEST_AGENT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, KubeletStartTime: $KUBELET_START_TIME_FORMATTED, KubeletReadyTime: $KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED } | tostring'
+ --arg KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED       "${KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED}" \
+ --arg SCRIPTLESS_MODE                    "${SCRIPTLESS_MODE}" \
+ '{ExitCode: $EXIT_CODE, E2E: $EXECUTION_DURATION, KernelStartTime: $KERNEL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudInitLocalStartTime: $CLOUDINITLOCAL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudInitStartTime: $CLOUDINIT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, CloudFinalStartTime: $CLOUDINITFINAL_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, NetworkdStartTime: $NETWORKD_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, GuestAgentStartTime: $GUEST_AGENT_STARTTIME_FORMATTED, KubeletStartTime: $KUBELET_START_TIME_FORMATTED, KubeletReadyTime: $KUBELET_READY_TIME_FORMATTED, ScriptlessMode: $SCRIPTLESS_MODE } | tostring'
 )
 # this clean up brings me no joy, but removing extra "\" and then removing quotes at the end of the string
 # allows parsing to happening without additional manipulation