diff --git a/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh b/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
index ac337c864341..fe62dde1c313 100644
--- a/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
+++ b/bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh
@@ -76,6 +76,30 @@ else
   JAVA="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
 fi
 
+# The JVM echoes JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to stderr at startup ("Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS: ..."), which
+# puts any secret set there, such as a truststore password, into the container log, and plain
+# arguments would show in ps instead. So pass the options in a -XX:VMOptionsFile: the JVM parses it
+# exactly like JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS, quotes and '#' included, and does not echo it. The file is opened
+# on fd 3 and unlinked at once, tmpfs first, so ps only ever shows /dev/fd/3, even after musl's
+# launcher re-exec. It goes ahead of our options so ours still take precedence.
+JAVA_TOOL_ARGS=""
+if [ -n "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" ]; then
+  java_tool_options_file=""
+  for tmp_dir in /dev/shm "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"; do
+    java_tool_options_file=$(mktemp "$tmp_dir/jvm-options.XXXXXX" 2>/dev/null) && break
+  done
+  if [ -n "$java_tool_options_file" ] &&
+    printf '%s\n' "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" > "$java_tool_options_file"; then
+    exec 3< "$java_tool_options_file"
+    JAVA_TOOL_ARGS="-XX:VMOptionsFile=/dev/fd/3"
+    unset JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
+  else
+    echo "Warning: could not write JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to /dev/shm or ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}," \
+      "so the JVM will print it at startup" >&2
+  fi
+  [ -z "$java_tool_options_file" ] || rm -f "$java_tool_options_file"
+fi
+
 # Set Debug options if enabled
 if [ "x$OPENMETADATA_DEBUG" != "x" ]; then
 
@@ -126,7 +150,7 @@ if [ "x$DAEMON_MODE" = "xtrue" ]; then
     # emits what logback already writes to the rotated logs/openmetadata.log. Silence the console
     # so this file only collects JVM and pre-logback output. CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL=TRACE restores it.
     export CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL="${CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL:-OFF}"
-    nohup $JAVA $OPENMETADATA_HEAP_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS -cp $CLASSPATH $OPENMETADATA_OPTS "$APP_CLASS" "server" "$@" > "$CONSOLE_OUTPUT_FILE" 2>&1 < /dev/null &
+    nohup $JAVA $JAVA_TOOL_ARGS $OPENMETADATA_HEAP_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS -cp $CLASSPATH $OPENMETADATA_OPTS "$APP_CLASS" "server" "$@" > "$CONSOLE_OUTPUT_FILE" 2>&1 < /dev/null &
 else
-    exec $JAVA $OPENMETADATA_HEAP_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS -cp $CLASSPATH $OPENMETADATA_OPTS "$APP_CLASS" "server" "$@"
+    exec $JAVA $JAVA_TOOL_ARGS $OPENMETADATA_HEAP_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_JVM_PERFORMANCE_OPTS $OPENMETADATA_GC_LOG_OPTS -cp $CLASSPATH $OPENMETADATA_OPTS "$APP_CLASS" "server" "$@"
 fi
diff --git a/bin/openmetadata.sh b/bin/openmetadata.sh
index 4553fb10a73b..8449a26c4827 100644
--- a/bin/openmetadata.sh
+++ b/bin/openmetadata.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ function catalogStart {
        # Export CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL=TRACE before starting to get the old behaviour back.
        export CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL="${CONSOLE_LOG_LEVEL:-OFF}"
        cd ${CATALOG_HOME}
-       nohup ${JAVA} ${CATALOG_HEAP_OPTS} ${CATALOG_JVM_PERF_OPTS} ${CATALOG_DEBUG_OPTS} ${CATALOG_GC_LOG_OPTS} ${CATALOG_JMX_OPTS} -cp ${CLASSPATH} "${APP_CLASS}" "server" "$@" 2>>"${ERR_FILE}" 1>>"${OUT_FILE}" &
+       nohup ${JAVA} ${JAVA_TOOL_ARGS} ${CATALOG_HEAP_OPTS} ${CATALOG_JVM_PERF_OPTS} ${CATALOG_DEBUG_OPTS} ${CATALOG_GC_LOG_OPTS} ${CATALOG_JMX_OPTS} -cp ${CLASSPATH} "${APP_CLASS}" "server" "$@" 2>>"${ERR_FILE}" 1>>"${OUT_FILE}" &
        cd - &> /dev/null
        echo $! > ${PID_FILE}
        echo $(catalogStatus)
@@ -151,6 +151,26 @@ else
   JAVA="${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java"
 fi
 
+# As in bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh: pass JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS in a -XX:VMOptionsFile on fd 3,
+# so neither the JVM's startup echo nor ps shows it.
+JAVA_TOOL_ARGS=""
+if [ -n "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" ]; then
+  java_tool_options_file=""
+  for tmp_dir in /dev/shm "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"; do
+    java_tool_options_file=$(mktemp "$tmp_dir/jvm-options.XXXXXX" 2>/dev/null) && break
+  done
+  if [ -n "$java_tool_options_file" ] &&
+    printf '%s\n' "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" > "$java_tool_options_file"; then
+    exec 3< "$java_tool_options_file"
+    JAVA_TOOL_ARGS="-XX:VMOptionsFile=/dev/fd/3"
+    unset JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
+  else
+    echo "Warning: could not write JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to /dev/shm or ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}," \
+      "so the JVM will print it at startup" >&2
+  fi
+  [ -z "$java_tool_options_file" ] || rm -f "$java_tool_options_file"
+fi
+
 if [[ "x${CATALOG_HEAP_OPTS}" = "x" ]]; then
     export CATALOG_HEAP_OPTS="-Xmx2G -Xms2G"
 fi
diff --git a/bootstrap/openmetadata-ops.sh b/bootstrap/openmetadata-ops.sh
index b2d3e2db1f32..a159c6ddc3a7 100755
--- a/bootstrap/openmetadata-ops.sh
+++ b/bootstrap/openmetadata-ops.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,26 @@ else
   CLASSPATH=`mvn -pl openmetadata-service -q exec:exec -Dexec.executable=echo -Dexec.args="%classpath"`
 fi
 
-${JAVA} -Dbootstrap.dir=$BOOTSTRAP_DIR  -cp ${CLASSPATH} ${OPENMETADATA_SETUP_MAIN_CLASS} -c $CONFIG_FILE_PATH "$@"
+# As in bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh: pass JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS in a -XX:VMOptionsFile on fd 3,
+# so neither the JVM's startup echo nor ps shows it.
+JAVA_TOOL_ARGS=""
+if [ -n "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" ]; then
+  java_tool_options_file=""
+  for tmp_dir in /dev/shm "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"; do
+    java_tool_options_file=$(mktemp "$tmp_dir/jvm-options.XXXXXX" 2>/dev/null) && break
+  done
+  if [ -n "$java_tool_options_file" ] &&
+    printf '%s\n' "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" > "$java_tool_options_file"; then
+    exec 3< "$java_tool_options_file"
+    JAVA_TOOL_ARGS="-XX:VMOptionsFile=/dev/fd/3"
+    unset JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
+  else
+    echo "Warning: could not write JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to /dev/shm or ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}," \
+      "so the JVM will print it at startup" >&2
+  fi
+  [ -z "$java_tool_options_file" ] || rm -f "$java_tool_options_file"
+fi
+
+${JAVA} ${JAVA_TOOL_ARGS} -Dbootstrap.dir=$BOOTSTRAP_DIR  -cp ${CLASSPATH} ${OPENMETADATA_SETUP_MAIN_CLASS} -c $CONFIG_FILE_PATH "$@"
 exit $?
 
diff --git a/scripts/docker_smoke_test.sh b/scripts/docker_smoke_test.sh
index f3230406627d..038c6e3c2754 100755
--- a/scripts/docker_smoke_test.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker_smoke_test.sh
@@ -207,6 +207,40 @@ case "$pid1" in
 esac
 docker rm -f "$CONTAINER" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
+# The JVM echoes JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to stderr before any logging starts ("Picked up
+# JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS: ..."), so a truststore password set there landed in the pod
+# log. bin/openmetadata-server-start.sh hands the options to the JVM in a
+# -XX:VMOptionsFile instead. The value, '#' included, must stay out of the log and
+# off the JVM's command line, which every local user can read, and the options
+# file must not be left behind. -XX:+PrintCommandLineFlags shows the options still
+# reach the JVM: it prints the flags once the arguments are parsed.
+docker run -d --name "$CONTAINER" \
+  -e JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-XX:+PrintCommandLineFlags -Dsmoke.secret=not-for-the-log#1" \
+  "$IMAGE" >/dev/null
+for _ in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10; do
+  case "$(docker logs "$CONTAINER" 2>&1 || true)" in *PrintCommandLineFlags*) break ;; esac
+  sleep 1
+done
+sleep 1
+startup="$(docker logs "$CONTAINER" 2>&1 || true)"
+cmdline="$(docker exec "$CONTAINER" /bin/sh -c 'tr "\0" " " < /proc/1/cmdline' 2>/dev/null || true)"
+leftover="$(docker exec "$CONTAINER" /bin/sh -c 'ls /dev/shm /tmp 2>/dev/null' |
+  grep -c '^jvm-options\.' || true)"
+if echo "$startup" | grep -q "not-for-the-log"; then
+  fail "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS reached the container log: $(echo "$startup" | grep -m1 "not-for-the-log")"
+elif echo "$cmdline" | grep -q "not-for-the-log"; then
+  fail "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS is on the JVM's command line, where ps shows it: $cmdline"
+elif ! echo "$startup" | grep -q -- "-XX:+PrintCommandLineFlags"; then
+  fail "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS never reached the JVM: $(echo "$startup" | tail -3 | tr '\n' ' ')"
+elif [ -z "$cmdline" ]; then
+  fail "could not read /proc/1 to check the JVM's command line before the container exited"
+elif [ "${leftover:-0}" -ne 0 ]; then
+  fail "the JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS file was left behind in /dev/shm or /tmp"
+else
+  pass "JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS reaches the JVM without showing in its log or its command line"
+fi
+docker rm -f "$CONTAINER" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
 echo
 if [ "$failures" -ne 0 ]; then
   echo "==> $failures assertion(s) failed for $IMAGE"