diff --git a/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller.go b/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller.go
index b87be6c..2995020 100644
--- a/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller.go
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ func (r *LMEvalJobReconciler) validateCustomCard(job *lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalJob, lo
 
 func CreatePod(svcOpts *serviceOptions, job *lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalJob, log logr.Logger) *corev1.Pod {
 
-	var envVars = job.Spec.Pod.GetContainer().GetEnv()
+	var envVars = removeProtectedEnvVars(job.Spec.Pod.GetContainer().GetEnv())
 
 	var volumeMounts = []corev1.VolumeMount{
 		{
@@ -1069,3 +1069,25 @@ func getContainerByName(status *corev1.PodStatus, name string) int {
 		return s.Name == name
 	})
 }
+
+var ProtectedEnvVarNames = []string{"TRUST_REMOTE_CODE", "HF_DATASETS_TRUST_REMOTE_CODE", "HF_DATASETS_OFFLINE", "HF_HUB_OFFLINE", "TRANSFORMERS_OFFLINE", "HF_EVALUATE_OFFLINE"}
+
+// removeProtectedEnvVars removes protected EnvVars from a list of EnvVars
+func removeProtectedEnvVars(envVars []corev1.EnvVar) []corev1.EnvVar {
+	var allowedEnvVars []corev1.EnvVar
+
+	for _, env := range envVars {
+		exclude := false
+		for _, name := range ProtectedEnvVarNames {
+			if env.Name == name {
+				exclude = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if !exclude {
+			allowedEnvVars = append(allowedEnvVars, env)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return allowedEnvVars
+}
diff --git a/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller_test.go b/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller_test.go
index 2519e13..b29f0d6 100644
--- a/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller_test.go
+++ b/controllers/lmes/lmevaljob_controller_test.go
@@ -1683,6 +1683,193 @@ func Test_OfflineMode(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, expect, newPod)
 }
 
+// Test_ProtectedVars tests that if the protected env vars are set from spec.pod mode
+// they will not be changed in the pod
+func Test_ProtectedVars(t *testing.T) {
+	log := log.FromContext(context.Background())
+	svcOpts := &serviceOptions{
+		PodImage:        "podimage:latest",
+		DriverImage:     "driver:latest",
+		ImagePullPolicy: corev1.PullAlways,
+	}
+
+	jobName := "test"
+	pvcName := "my-pvc"
+	var job = &lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalJob{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      jobName,
+			Namespace: "default",
+			UID:       "for-testing",
+		},
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       lmesv1alpha1.KindName,
+			APIVersion: lmesv1alpha1.Version,
+		},
+		Spec: lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalJobSpec{
+			Model: "test",
+			ModelArgs: []lmesv1alpha1.Arg{
+				{Name: "arg1", Value: "value1"},
+			},
+			TaskList: lmesv1alpha1.TaskList{
+				TaskNames: []string{"task1", "task2"},
+			},
+			Offline: &lmesv1alpha1.OfflineSpec{
+				StorageSpec: lmesv1alpha1.OfflineStorageSpec{
+					PersistentVolumeClaimName: pvcName,
+				},
+			},
+			Pod: &lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalPodSpec{
+				Container: &lmesv1alpha1.LMEvalContainer{
+					Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
+						{
+							Name:  "HF_HUB_OFFLINE",
+							Value: "0",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "NOT_PROTECTED",
+							Value: "True",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "TRUST_REMOTE_CODE",
+							Value: "1",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	expect := &corev1.Pod{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "test",
+			Namespace: "default",
+			Labels: map[string]string{
+				"app.kubernetes.io/name": "ta-lmes",
+			},
+			OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{
+				{
+					APIVersion: lmesv1alpha1.Version,
+					Kind:       lmesv1alpha1.KindName,
+					Name:       "test",
+					Controller: &isController,
+					UID:        "for-testing",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			Kind:       "Pod",
+			APIVersion: "v1",
+		},
+		Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+			InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+				{
+					Name:            "driver",
+					Image:           svcOpts.DriverImage,
+					ImagePullPolicy: svcOpts.ImagePullPolicy,
+					Command:         []string{DriverPath, "--copy", DestDriverPath},
+					SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+						AllowPrivilegeEscalation: &allowPrivilegeEscalation,
+						Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
+							Drop: []corev1.Capability{
+								"ALL",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					VolumeMounts: []corev1.VolumeMount{
+						{
+							Name:      "shared",
+							MountPath: "/opt/app-root/src/bin",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			Containers: []corev1.Container{
+				{
+					Name:            "main",
+					Image:           svcOpts.PodImage,
+					ImagePullPolicy: svcOpts.ImagePullPolicy,
+					Command:         generateCmd(svcOpts, job),
+					Args:            generateArgs(svcOpts, job, log),
+					SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+						AllowPrivilegeEscalation: &allowPrivilegeEscalation,
+						Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
+							Drop: []corev1.Capability{
+								"ALL",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+					Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
+						{
+							Name:  "NOT_PROTECTED",
+							Value: "True",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "TRUST_REMOTE_CODE",
+							Value: "0",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "HF_DATASETS_TRUST_REMOTE_CODE",
+							Value: "0",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "HF_DATASETS_OFFLINE",
+							Value: "1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "HF_HUB_OFFLINE",
+							Value: "1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "TRANSFORMERS_OFFLINE",
+							Value: "1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:  "HF_EVALUATE_OFFLINE",
+							Value: "1",
+						},
+					},
+					VolumeMounts: []corev1.VolumeMount{
+						{
+							Name:      "shared",
+							MountPath: "/opt/app-root/src/bin",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:      "offline",
+							MountPath: "/opt/app-root/src/hf_home",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			SecurityContext: &corev1.PodSecurityContext{
+				RunAsNonRoot: &runAsNonRootUser,
+				SeccompProfile: &corev1.SeccompProfile{
+					Type: corev1.SeccompProfileTypeRuntimeDefault,
+				},
+			},
+			Volumes: []corev1.Volume{
+				{
+					Name: "shared", VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
+						EmptyDir: &corev1.EmptyDirVolumeSource{},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					Name: "offline", VolumeSource: corev1.VolumeSource{
+						PersistentVolumeClaim: &corev1.PersistentVolumeClaimVolumeSource{
+							ClaimName: pvcName,
+							ReadOnly:  false,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			RestartPolicy: corev1.RestartPolicyNever,
+		},
+	}
+
+	newPod := CreatePod(svcOpts, job, log)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, expect, newPod)
+}
+
 // Test_OnlineMode tests that if the online mode is set the configuration is correct
 func Test_OnlineMode(t *testing.T) {
 	log := log.FromContext(context.Background())