diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/eql/CommonEqlRestTestCase.java b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/eql/CommonEqlRestTestCase.java
index a00f361b0a505..4c404fb5a0b15 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/eql/CommonEqlRestTestCase.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/common/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/eql/CommonEqlRestTestCase.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.test.eql;
 
 import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.Build;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Request;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Response;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.ResponseException;
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ESRestTestCase;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 
@@ -62,6 +64,11 @@ static class SearchTestConfiguration {
             400, "query malformed, empty clause found"));
     }
 
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void checkForSnapshot() {
+        assumeTrue("Only works on snapshot builds for now", Build.CURRENT.isSnapshot());
+    }
+
     @Before
     public void setup() throws Exception {
         createIndex(defaultValidationIndexName, Settings.EMPTY);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/build.gradle
index f73c719efad98..8e4f9dc97e1fa 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/build.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.info.BuildParams
+
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.testclusters'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.standalone-rest-test'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-test'
@@ -9,7 +11,9 @@ dependencies {
 
 testClusters.integTest {
   testDistribution = 'DEFAULT'
-  setting 'xpack.eql.enabled', 'true'
+  if (BuildParams.isSnapshotBuild()) {
+    setting 'xpack.eql.enabled', 'true'
+  }
   setting 'xpack.license.self_generated.type', 'basic'
   setting 'xpack.monitoring.collection.enabled', 'true'
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/eql/EqlRestIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/eql/EqlRestIT.java
index 5ff7f23c51e48..aa1df16c58553 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/eql/EqlRestIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/eql/qa/rest/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/eql/EqlRestIT.java
@@ -7,11 +7,18 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.xpack.eql;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.annotations.ParametersFactory;
+import org.elasticsearch.Build;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.ClientYamlTestCandidate;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.ESClientYamlSuiteTestCase;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 
 public class EqlRestIT extends ESClientYamlSuiteTestCase {
 
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void checkForSnapshot() {
+        assumeTrue("Only works on snapshot builds for now", Build.CURRENT.isSnapshot());
+    }
+
     public EqlRestIT(final ClientYamlTestCandidate testCandidate) {
         super(testCandidate);
     }