diff --git a/backend/open_webui/env.py b/backend/open_webui/env.py
index fbf22d84d..ab2cef1fe 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/env.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/env.py
@@ -355,3 +355,9 @@ else:
         AIOHTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT = int(AIOHTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT)
     except Exception:
         AIOHTTP_CLIENT_TIMEOUT = 300
+
+####################################
+# OFFLINE_MODE
+####################################
+
+OFFLINE_MODE = os.environ.get("OFFLINE_MODE", "false").lower() == "true"
diff --git a/backend/open_webui/main.py b/backend/open_webui/main.py
index 9fc46fcde..f14666bef 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/main.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/main.py
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ from open_webui.env import (
     WEBUI_SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE,
     WEBUI_URL,
     RESET_CONFIG_ON_START,
+    OFFLINE_MODE,
 )
 from fastapi import (
     Depends,
@@ -178,14 +179,14 @@ class SPAStaticFiles(StaticFiles):
 
 print(
     rf"""
-  ___                    __        __   _     _   _ ___ 
+  ___                    __        __   _     _   _ ___
  / _ \ _ __   ___ _ __   \ \      / /__| |__ | | | |_ _|
-| | | | '_ \ / _ \ '_ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \ '_ \| | | || | 
-| |_| | |_) |  __/ | | |   \ V  V /  __/ |_) | |_| || | 
+| | | | '_ \ / _ \ '_ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \ '_ \| | | || |
+| |_| | |_) |  __/ | | |   \ V  V /  __/ |_) | |_| || |
  \___/| .__/ \___|_| |_|    \_/\_/ \___|_.__/ \___/|___|
-      |_|                                               
+      |_|
+
 
-      
 v{VERSION} - building the best open-source AI user interface.
 {f"Commit: {WEBUI_BUILD_HASH}" if WEBUI_BUILD_HASH != "dev-build" else ""}
 https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui
@@ -2207,6 +2208,11 @@ async def get_app_changelog():
 
 @app.get("/api/version/updates")
 async def get_app_latest_release_version():
+    if OFFLINE_MODE:
+        log.debug(
+            f"Offline mode is enabled, returning current version as latest version"
+        )
+        return {"current": VERSION, "latest": VERSION}
     try:
         timeout = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=1)
         async with aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=timeout, trust_env=True) as session: