diff --git a/buildscripts/gather_failed_tests.py b/buildscripts/gather_failed_tests.py
index 6a08c8219ed..46eb9dd022a 100644
--- a/buildscripts/gather_failed_tests.py
+++ b/buildscripts/gather_failed_tests.py
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import typer
 
 
+def _bazel_binary() -> str:
+    return os.environ.get("BAZEL_BINARY", "bazel")
+
+
 def process_bep(bep_path):
     failed_tests = []
     successful_tests = []
@@ -36,7 +40,7 @@ def _relink_binaries_with_symbols(failed_test_labels: list[str]):
 
     bazel_build_flags.append("--remote_download_outputs=toplevel")
 
-    relink_command = ["bazel", "build", *bazel_build_flags, *failed_test_labels]
+    relink_command = [_bazel_binary(), "build", *bazel_build_flags, *failed_test_labels]
 
     print(f"Running command: {' '.join(relink_command)}")
     subprocess.run(
diff --git a/buildscripts/generate_result_tasks.py b/buildscripts/generate_result_tasks.py
index 1caaf97d23b..cc96f0f5439 100644
--- a/buildscripts/generate_result_tasks.py
+++ b/buildscripts/generate_result_tasks.py
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ NIGHTLY_PROJECT_CONFIG = "etc/evergreen_nightly.yml"
 app = typer.Typer(pretty_exceptions_show_locals=False)
 
 
+def _bazel_binary() -> str:
+    return os.environ.get("BAZEL_BINARY", "bazel")
+
+
 def make_results_task(target: str) -> Task:
     commands = [
         FunctionCall("fetch remote test results", {"test_label": target}),
@@ -352,7 +356,7 @@ def query_targets(
         query = f"({' + '.join(tag_queries)}) - {excluded}"
 
     cmd = (
-        ["bazel", "cquery"]
+        [_bazel_binary(), "cquery"]
         + flags_list
         + [
             query,
diff --git a/evergreen/bazel_coverage.sh b/evergreen/bazel_coverage.sh
index 1634d404539..6863e7a03c9 100644
--- a/evergreen/bazel_coverage.sh
+++ b/evergreen/bazel_coverage.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 # Needed for evergreen scripts that use evergreen expansions and utility methods.
 DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 . "$DIR/prelude.sh"
+. "$DIR/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh"
 
 cd src
 
@@ -19,9 +20,8 @@ set -o verbose
 # Use `eval` to force evaluation of the environment variables in the echo statement:
 eval echo "Execution environment: Args: ${args} Target: ${target}"
 
-# We only support explicitly limited arch for code coverage, so there
-# are fewer conditionals here than elsewhere in more general utilities.
-BAZEL_BINARY=bazel
+BAZEL_BINARY="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)"
+export BAZEL_BINARY
 
 # Print command being run to file that can be uploaded
 echo "python buildscripts/install_bazel.py" >bazel-invocation.txt
diff --git a/evergreen/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh b/evergreen/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh
index e597b05c195..fccb6e1db46 100644
--- a/evergreen/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh
+++ b/evergreen/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh
@@ -281,7 +281,9 @@ bazel_evergreen_shutils::retry_bazel_cmd() {
     local timeout_str="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::timeout_prefix "${evergreen_remote_exec:-}")"
 
     # Get command log path for usage afterwards
-    last_command_log_path=$(bazel info command_log)
+    # Use the selected Bazel binary so PPC/s390x don't fall back to a different
+    # bazel on PATH with different JDK behavior.
+    last_command_log_path=$("$BAZEL_BINARY" info command_log 2>/dev/null || true)
 
     # Everything else is the Bazel subcommand + flags (and possibly redirections/pipes).
     # We *intentionally* keep it as raw words and reassemble to a single string for eval.
diff --git a/evergreen/bazel_run.sh b/evergreen/bazel_run.sh
index 1c5b3ad7ff4..245b8b3c49f 100644
--- a/evergreen/bazel_run.sh
+++ b/evergreen/bazel_run.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ bazel_evergreen_shutils::export_ssl_paths_if_needed
 eval echo "Execution environment: Args: ${args} Target: ${target} redact_args: ${redact_args}"
 
 BAZEL_BINARY="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)"
+export BAZEL_BINARY
 
 # Build LOCAL_ARG for run-mode
 LOCAL_ARG="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::compute_local_arg run)"
diff --git a/evergreen/bazel_test.sh b/evergreen/bazel_test.sh
index 6dba17bdd1f..ad0879b5556 100644
--- a/evergreen/bazel_test.sh
+++ b/evergreen/bazel_test.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ bazel_evergreen_shutils::export_ssl_paths_if_needed
 eval echo "Execution environment: Targets: ${targets}"
 
 BAZEL_BINARY="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)"
+export BAZEL_BINARY
 
 # Mode-specific LOCAL_ARG and release flag
 LOCAL_ARG="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::compute_local_arg test)"
diff --git a/evergreen/coverity_build.sh b/evergreen/coverity_build.sh
index 32aba7e9015..00a4324f211 100644
--- a/evergreen/coverity_build.sh
+++ b/evergreen/coverity_build.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/env bash
 DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 . "$DIR/prelude.sh"
+. "$DIR/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh"
 
 cd src
 
@@ -15,6 +16,8 @@ fi
 
 activate_venv
 export MONGO_WRAPPER_OUTPUT_ALL=1
+BAZEL_BINARY="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)"
+export BAZEL_BINARY
 # number of parallel jobs to use for build.
 # Even with scale=0 (the default), bc command adds decimal digits in case of multiplication. Division by 1 gives us a whole number with scale=0
 coverity_config_dir="$workdir/coverity/config"
@@ -29,7 +32,7 @@ trap 'rm -f "$compiledb_target_pattern_file" "$query_stderr_file"' EXIT
 echo "Generating compile_commands.json for Coverity capture"
 echo "Resolving mongo_compiledb targets under //:install-core"
 query_command=(
-    bazel
+    "$BAZEL_BINARY"
     $bazel_cache
     cquery
     $build_config
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ if [ ! -s "$compiledb_target_pattern_file" ]; then
 fi
 
 build_compiledb_command=(
-    bazel
+    "$BAZEL_BINARY"
     $bazel_cache
     build
     $build_config
@@ -65,9 +68,9 @@ echo
 "${build_compiledb_command[@]}"
 
 echo "Setting up clang-tidy IDE files"
-bazel $bazel_cache run $build_config //:setup_clang_tidy
+"$BAZEL_BINARY" $bazel_cache run $build_config //:setup_clang_tidy
 
-compiledb_output_base="$(bazel $bazel_cache info output_base)"
+compiledb_output_base="$("$BAZEL_BINARY" $bazel_cache info output_base)"
 repo_python=""
 python_candidates=(
     "$compiledb_output_base/external/_main~setup_mongo_python_toolchains~py_host/dist/bin/python3"
diff --git a/evergreen/crypt_run_tests.sh b/evergreen/crypt_run_tests.sh
index 568407927a9..61a6f52862a 100755
--- a/evergreen/crypt_run_tests.sh
+++ b/evergreen/crypt_run_tests.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd)"
 . "$DIR/prelude.sh"
+. "$DIR/bazel_evergreen_shutils.sh"
 
 cd src
 
@@ -16,6 +17,8 @@ if [ "$(uname)" != "Linux" ]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
+BAZEL_BINARY="$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)"
+
 EXTRACT_DIR="bazel-bin/install"
 # EXTRACT_DIR is typically a Bazel symlink tree; dereference to the real path up front.
 if command -v realpath >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -85,5 +88,5 @@ $UNITTEST_PATH
 echo "Mongo Crypt Shared Library unit test succeeded!"
 
 echo "Running Mongo Crypt Shared Library debuggability test"
-MONGO_WRAPPER_OUTPUT_ALL=1 bazel run gdb -- "$UNITTEST_PATH" --batch -ex "source ${EXTRACT_DIR}/crypt_debuggability_test.py"
+MONGO_WRAPPER_OUTPUT_ALL=1 "$BAZEL_BINARY" run gdb -- "$UNITTEST_PATH" --batch -ex "source ${EXTRACT_DIR}/crypt_debuggability_test.py"
 echo "Mongo Crypt Shared Library shared library debuggability test succeeded!"
diff --git a/evergreen/resmoke_tests_execute_bazel.sh b/evergreen/resmoke_tests_execute_bazel.sh
index 6fa3c453660..899d1082d97 100644
--- a/evergreen/resmoke_tests_execute_bazel.sh
+++ b/evergreen/resmoke_tests_execute_bazel.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ set -o verbose
 bazel_evergreen_shutils::activate_and_cd_src
 
 BAZEL_BINARY=$(bazel_evergreen_shutils::bazel_get_binary_path)
+export BAZEL_BINARY
 
 ci_flags="--//bazel/resmoke:in_evergreen"
 
diff --git a/evergreen/validate_compile_commands.py b/evergreen/validate_compile_commands.py
index 96d2e7f5b47..fe01e456074 100644
--- a/evergreen/validate_compile_commands.py
+++ b/evergreen/validate_compile_commands.py
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ MONGO_TIDY_PLUGIN_CANDIDATES = frozenset(
 )
 
 
+def _get_bazel_binary() -> str:
+    return os.environ.get("BAZEL_BINARY", "bazel")
+
+
 def _get_workspace_dir() -> str:
     workspace_dir = os.environ.get("BUILD_WORKSPACE_DIRECTORY")
     if workspace_dir:
@@ -43,7 +47,7 @@ def _ensure_compiledb_exists(compdb_path: str) -> None:
         "Attempting to run "
         f"'bazel build {' '.join(COMPILEDB_GENERATION_TARGETS)}' to generate it.\n"
     )
-    subprocess.run(["bazel", "build", *COMPILEDB_GENERATION_TARGETS], check=True)
+    subprocess.run([_get_bazel_binary(), "build", *COMPILEDB_GENERATION_TARGETS], check=True)
 
 
 def _mongo_tidy_checks_supported_platform() -> bool: