diff --git a/.buildkite/bootstrap-cmake.sh b/.buildkite/bootstrap-cmake.sh
index 5c63cf97fb9b..f1169ab1703e 100755
--- a/.buildkite/bootstrap-cmake.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/bootstrap-cmake.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
 
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+
 echo "--- 🔧 Configuring CMake build"
 # shellcheck disable=1091
 source /etc/profile.d/enable-gcc-toolset.sh
diff --git a/.buildkite/bootstrap.sh b/.buildkite/bootstrap.sh
index b4b6115912d4..d7a4c8a14a35 100755
--- a/.buildkite/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/bootstrap.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
 
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+: "${VESPA_CPP_TEST_JARS:?Environment variable VESPA_CPP_TEST_JARS must be set (path for C++ test JARs)}"
+
 echo "--- 🔧 Running Vespa bootstrap"
 cd "$SOURCE_DIR"
 ./bootstrap.sh full
diff --git a/.buildkite/build-container.sh b/.buildkite/build-container.sh
index 26d342d7db3d..d58b8506c5ae 100755
--- a/.buildkite/build-container.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/build-container.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
 
+: "${VESPA_BUILDOS_LABEL:?Environment variable VESPA_BUILDOS_LABEL must be set (build OS label)}"
+
 if ! docker ps &> /dev/null; then
     echo "No working docker command found."
     exit 1
diff --git a/.buildkite/cpp-test.sh b/.buildkite/cpp-test.sh
index 871ec6139313..6d10277daf4f 100755
--- a/.buildkite/cpp-test.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/cpp-test.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
-
+: "${NUM_CPU_LIMIT:?Environment variable NUM_CPU_LIMIT must be set (CPU limit)}"
+: "${LOG_DIR:?Environment variable LOG_DIR must be set (log directory)}"
 echo "--- 🧪 Running C++ tests"
 PATH=/opt/vespa-deps/bin:$PATH
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/cpp.sh b/.buildkite/cpp.sh
index 220d61b73bc8..1dac8f0c5535 100755
--- a/.buildkite/cpp.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/cpp.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ fi
 
 mydir=${0%/*}
 shlim=${mydir}/show-limits.sh
+
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+: "${NUM_CPP_THREADS:?Environment variable NUM_CPP_THREADS must be set (number of C++ threads)}"
 if [ -x "${shlim}" ]; then
     "${shlim}" || echo "failed: ${shlim}"
 fi
diff --git a/.buildkite/go.sh b/.buildkite/go.sh
index 856090263ab4..9b5f8e24a2bd 100755
--- a/.buildkite/go.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/go.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
-
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+: "${WORKDIR:?Environment variable WORKDIR must be set (working directory)}"
 echo "--- 🐹 Building Go components"
 cd "$SOURCE_DIR"
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/install.sh b/.buildkite/install.sh
index 38f588605720..c9724c805334 100755
--- a/.buildkite/install.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/install.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
-
+: "${NUM_CPU_LIMIT:?Environment variable NUM_CPU_LIMIT must be set (CPU limit)}"
+: "${WORKDIR:?Environment variable WORKDIR must be set (working directory)}"
 echo "--- 📦 Installing Vespa components"
 echo "Running make install with $NUM_CPU_LIMIT parallel jobs..."
 make -j "$NUM_CPU_LIMIT" install DESTDIR="$WORKDIR/vespa-install"
diff --git a/.buildkite/java.sh b/.buildkite/java.sh
index 1821a79c92bb..660a11ec3a76 100755
--- a/.buildkite/java.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/java.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ fi
 
 mydir=${0%/*}
 shlim=${mydir}/show-limits.sh
+
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+: "${VESPA_MAVEN_TARGET:?Environment variable VESPA_MAVEN_TARGET must be set (Maven target)}"
+: "${NUM_MVN_THREADS:?Environment variable NUM_MVN_THREADS must be set (Maven threads)}"
 if [ -x "${shlim}" ]; then
     "${shlim}" || echo "failed: ${shlim}"
 fi
diff --git a/.buildkite/quick-start-guide.sh b/.buildkite/quick-start-guide.sh
index 6fa0abb3e365..9821b3da8659 100755
--- a/.buildkite/quick-start-guide.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/quick-start-guide.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ if [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]]; then
     set -o xtrace
 fi
 
+: "${SOURCE_DIR:?Environment variable SOURCE_DIR must be set (path to source code)}"
+
 if [[ $VESPA_USE_SANITIZER != null ]]; then
     echo "Skipping quick start guide test for sanitizer builds."
     exit 0
diff --git a/.buildkite/upload-test-results.sh b/.buildkite/upload-test-results.sh
index 08d947c5a72a..0162f80f01ed 100755
--- a/.buildkite/upload-test-results.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/upload-test-results.sh
@@ -26,14 +26,8 @@ else
     CPP_TEST_TOKEN=$UNIT_TEST_CPP_ARM64_TOKEN
 fi
 
-if [[ -z $JAVA_TEST_TOKEN ]]; then
-    echo "Missing JAVA_TEST_TOKEN. Exiting."
-    exit 1
-fi
-if [[ -z $CPP_TEST_TOKEN ]]; then
-    echo "Missing CPP_TEST_TOKEN. Exiting."
-    exit 1
-fi
+: "${JAVA_TEST_TOKEN:?Environment variable JAVA_TEST_TOKEN must be set (token for uploading Java test results)}"
+: "${CPP_TEST_TOKEN:?Environment variable CPP_TEST_TOKEN must be set (token for uploading C++ test results)}"
 
 upload_result() {
     curl \