diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2999a4f99..e10f47a2b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 - druid: Add `37.0.0` ([#1535]).
 - hbase: Add `2.6.6` ([#1547]).
 - spark: Add `4.1.2` ([#1550]).
+- spark: Bake the OpenLineage Spark listener (`openlineage-spark_2.13` `1.51.0`) into the `4.1.x` images under the dedicated directory `/stackable/spark/openlineage/` (off the `extra-jars` classpath), enabling the OpenLineage MVP in the operator ([#XXXX]).
 - opensearch: Add `3.6.0` ([#1549]).
 - opensearch-dashboards: Add `3.6.0` ([#1551]).
 
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 [#1548]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1548
 [#1549]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1549
 [#1550]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1550
+[#XXXX]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/XXXX
 [#1551]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1551
 [#1559]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1559
 [#1561]: https://github.com/stackabletech/docker-images/pull/1561
diff --git a/spark-k8s/Dockerfile.4 b/spark-k8s/Dockerfile.4
index fff71258e..c8602ac8f 100644
--- a/spark-k8s/Dockerfile.4
+++ b/spark-k8s/Dockerfile.4
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ ENV HADOOP_VERSION=${HADOOP_HADOOP_VERSION}
 ARG JACKSON_DATAFORMAT_XML_VERSION
 ARG STAX2_API_VERSION
 ARG WOODSTOX_CORE_VERSION
+ARG OPENLINEAGE_SPARK_VERSION
 ARG JMX_EXPORTER_VERSION
 ARG TARGETARCH
 ARG TINI_VERSION
@@ -122,6 +123,16 @@ mvn dependency:get -Dartifact=mvn dependency:get -Dartifact=com.fasterxml.woodst
 cp /root/.m2/repository/com/fasterxml/woodstox/woodstox-core/${WOODSTOX_CORE_VERSION}/woodstox-core-${WOODSTOX_CORE_VERSION}.jar \
   /stackable/spark-${PRODUCT_VERSION}-stackable${RELEASE_VERSION}/dist/extra-jars/woodstox-core-${WOODSTOX_CORE_VERSION}.jar
 
+# Download the OpenLineage Spark listener jar into a DEDICATED directory (dist/openlineage),
+# NOT dist/extra-jars. The operator references it via `--jars local:///stackable/spark/openlineage/...`
+# so it loads on Spark's child/user classloader, sharing it with connectors delivered via `--packages`
+# (e.g. Iceberg). If it landed on extra-jars it would be added to the system classloader via
+# extraClassPath, OpenLineage's connector probe would fail, and no datasets would be emitted.
+mkdir -p /stackable/spark-${PRODUCT_VERSION}-stackable${RELEASE_VERSION}/dist/openlineage
+mvn dependency:get -Dartifact=io.openlineage:openlineage-spark_2.13:${OPENLINEAGE_SPARK_VERSION}
+cp /root/.m2/repository/io/openlineage/openlineage-spark_2.13/${OPENLINEAGE_SPARK_VERSION}/openlineage-spark_2.13-${OPENLINEAGE_SPARK_VERSION}.jar \
+  /stackable/spark-${PRODUCT_VERSION}-stackable${RELEASE_VERSION}/dist/openlineage/openlineage-spark_2.13-${OPENLINEAGE_SPARK_VERSION}.jar
+
 # Get the correct `tini` binary for our architecture.
 curl --fail "https://repo.stackable.tech/repository/packages/tini/tini-${TINI_VERSION}-${TARGETARCH}" \
   -o /usr/bin/tini
diff --git a/spark-k8s/boil-config.toml b/spark-k8s/boil-config.toml
index 724c436d9..b8559480c 100644
--- a/spark-k8s/boil-config.toml
+++ b/spark-k8s/boil-config.toml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ stax2-api-version = "4.2.2"               # Needs to match https://mvnrepository
 woodstox-core-version = "7.1.1"           # Needs to match https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat/jackson-dataformat-xml/2.20.0
 jmx-exporter-version = "1.3.0"
 tini-version = "0.19.0"
+openlineage-spark-version = "1.51.0"      # Scala 2.13 build for Spark 4.1.x; see https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.openlineage/openlineage-spark_2.13
 
 # LTS since 26.7.0
 [versions."4.1.2"]
@@ -54,3 +55,4 @@ stax2-api-version = "4.2.2"               # Needs to match https://mvnrepository
 woodstox-core-version = "7.1.1"           # Needs to match https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat/jackson-dataformat-xml/2.21.2
 jmx-exporter-version = "1.3.0"
 tini-version = "0.19.0"
+openlineage-spark-version = "1.51.0"      # Scala 2.13 build for Spark 4.1.x; see https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.openlineage/openlineage-spark_2.13