diff --git a/tools/idf_tools.py b/tools/idf_tools.py
index 395eebefec..b5e4f024ec 100755
--- a/tools/idf_tools.py
+++ b/tools/idf_tools.py
@@ -2122,8 +2122,12 @@ def process_tool(
 
     if not tool.versions_installed:
         if tool.get_install_type() == IDFTool.INSTALL_ALWAYS:
-            handle_missing_versions(tool, tool_name, install_cmd, prefer_system_hint)
-            tool_found = False
+            if os.getenv('IDF_SKIP_TOOLS_CHECK', '0') == '1':
+                warn(f'Tool {tool_name} is not installed and IDF_SKIP_TOOLS_CHECK is set. '
+                     'This may cause build failures.')
+            else:
+                handle_missing_versions(tool, tool_name, install_cmd, prefer_system_hint)
+                tool_found = False
         # If a tool found, but it is optional and does not have versions installed, use whatever is in PATH.
         return tool_export_paths, tool_export_vars, tool_found
 
diff --git a/tools/test_idf_tools/test_idf_tools.py b/tools/test_idf_tools/test_idf_tools.py
index 1275430ef0..87eab1dee0 100755
--- a/tools/test_idf_tools/test_idf_tools.py
+++ b/tools/test_idf_tools/test_idf_tools.py
@@ -312,6 +312,19 @@ class TestUsage(TestUsageBase):
 
         self.assertNotIn(tool_to_test, output)
 
+    def test_export_with_required_tools_check_skipped(self):
+        self.run_idf_tools_with_error(['export'], assertError=True)
+
+        new_os_environ = os.environ.copy()
+        new_os_environ['IDF_SKIP_TOOLS_CHECK'] = '1'
+        with patch('os.environ', new_os_environ):
+            self.run_idf_tools_with_action(['export'])
+
+            self.run_idf_tools_with_action(['install', OPENOCD])
+            output = self.run_idf_tools_with_action(['export'])
+            self.assertIn('%s/tools/openocd-esp32/%s/openocd-esp32/bin' %
+                          (self.temp_tools_dir, OPENOCD_VERSION), output)
+
 
 # TestUsageUnix tests installed tools on UNIX platforms
 @unittest.skipIf(sys.platform == 'win32', reason='Tools for UNIX differ')