diff --git a/pkg/helm/actions/get_chart.go b/pkg/helm/actions/get_chart.go
index bd76446902a..7ae03cd7422 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/actions/get_chart.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/actions/get_chart.go
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func GetChartFromURL(url string, conf *action.Configuration, namespace string, c
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		if err := applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(cmd, userCredentials); err != nil {
+		if err := applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(&cmd.ChartPathOptions, cmd, userCredentials); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/helm/actions/install_chart.go b/pkg/helm/actions/install_chart.go
index f206f440413..ed8472fa5f1 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/actions/install_chart.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/actions/install_chart.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/action"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/chart"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/chart/loader"
+	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/registry"
 	"helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/release"
 	kv1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -48,6 +49,14 @@ var (
 	httpURLRe = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^https?://` + hostPort + `/.+\.(?:tar\.gz|tgz)$`)
 )
 
+const (
+	helmAuthSecretAnnotation = "helm.openshift.io/auth-secret"
+)
+
+type RegistryClientSetter interface {
+	SetRegistryClient(rc *registry.Client)
+}
+
 // isValidChartURL validates chart URLs using RFC-compliant hostname labels.
 // Accepts oci://<registry>/<path> and http(s)://<host>/<path>.tgz|tar.gz URLs.
 func isValidChartURL(raw string) bool {
@@ -281,17 +290,25 @@ func GetUserCredentials(coreClient corev1client.CoreV1Interface, ns, secretName
 }
 
 // applyBasicAuthFromSecret sets cmd.Username and cmd.Password from a userCredentials and sets the registry client
-func applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(cmd *action.Install, userCredentials *UserCredentials) error {
+func applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(cmd *action.ChartPathOptions, setter RegistryClientSetter, userCredentials *UserCredentials) error {
 	cmd.Username = userCredentials.Username
 	cmd.Password = userCredentials.Password
 	rc, err := GetOCIRegistry(false, false, userCredentials)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to configure OCI registry client: %w", err)
 	}
-	cmd.SetRegistryClient(rc)
+	setter.SetRegistryClient(rc)
 	return nil
 }
 
+// addAuthSecretAnnotation adds the auth secret reference to the release annotations via chart metadata.
+func addAuthSecretAnnotation(ch *chart.Chart, secretName string) {
+	if secretName == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	ch.Metadata.Annotations[helmAuthSecretAnnotation] = secretName
+}
+
 // InstallChartFromURL installs a chart from an OCI or direct HTTP(S) chart URL.
 // If not provided, version is extracted from the OCI URL tag when applicable.
 // basicAuthSecretName names a Secret in ns containing username and password keys for registry auth.
@@ -312,7 +329,7 @@ func InstallChartFromURL(ns, name, url string, vals map[string]interface{}, conf
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		if err := applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(cmd, userCredentials); err != nil {
+		if err := applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(&cmd.ChartPathOptions, cmd, userCredentials); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
@@ -345,6 +362,7 @@ func InstallChartFromURL(ns, name, url string, vals map[string]interface{}, conf
 	}
 	ch.Metadata.Annotations["chart_url"] = url
 	ch.Metadata.Annotations["installation"] = "url_install"
+	addAuthSecretAnnotation(ch, basicAuthSecretName)
 	go func() {
 		_, err := cmd.Run(ch, vals)
 		if err == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/helm/actions/upgrade_release.go b/pkg/helm/actions/upgrade_release.go
index 1b4cb9a99de..98bcc17b7d6 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/actions/upgrade_release.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/actions/upgrade_release.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 	corev1client "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 )
 
 func UpgradeRelease(
@@ -158,11 +159,15 @@ func UpgradeReleaseAsync(
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	auth_secret := ""
 	// Before proceeding, check if chart URL is present as an annotation
 	if rel.Chart.Metadata.Annotations != nil {
 		if chart_url, ok := rel.Chart.Metadata.Annotations["chart_url"]; chartUrl == "" && ok {
 			chartUrl = chart_url
 		}
+		if authSecret, ok := rel.Chart.Metadata.Annotations[helmAuthSecretAnnotation]; ok {
+			auth_secret = authSecret
+		}
 	}
 
 	var tlsFiles []*os.File
@@ -199,6 +204,17 @@ func UpgradeReleaseAsync(
 				}
 			}
 		}
+		if auth_secret != "" {
+			klog.Infof("Found persisted auth secret %s for release %s/%s, applying credentials for upgrade", auth_secret, releaseNamespace, releaseName)
+			userCredentials, err := GetUserCredentials(coreClient, releaseNamespace, auth_secret)
+			if err != nil {
+				klog.Errorf("Failed to get user credentials for release upgrade %s/%s: %v", releaseNamespace, releaseName, err)
+			} else {
+				if err := applyBasicAuthFromUserCredentials(&client.ChartPathOptions, client, userCredentials); err != nil {
+					klog.Errorf("Failed to apply auth from secret %s for release %s/%s: %v", auth_secret, releaseNamespace, releaseName, err)
+				}
+			}
+		}
 		chartLocation = chartUrl
 		client.ChartPathOptions.Version = chartInfo.Version
 		cp, err = client.ChartPathOptions.LocateChart(chartLocation, settings)
@@ -223,6 +239,7 @@ func UpgradeReleaseAsync(
 			ch.Metadata.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
 		}
 		ch.Metadata.Annotations["chart_url"] = chartUrl
+		addAuthSecretAnnotation(ch, auth_secret)
 	}
 	go func() {
 		_, err := client.Run(releaseName, ch, vals)