diff --git a/.changeset/mean-eagles-dress.md b/.changeset/mean-eagles-dress.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fd79d4f32d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/mean-eagles-dress.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@janus-idp/cli": patch
+---
+
+fix(cli) add flag to specify output directory
+
+This change adds an --export-to flag to the package-dynamic-plugins CLI command. This flag will skip the container build step, and instead copy the staged dynamic plugin assets to the specified output directory. The addition of this flag makes the --tag argument optional, and only required if --export-to is not specified.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/index.ts
index 741d8b609e5..aa74f4099c9 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/index.ts
@@ -161,9 +161,13 @@ export function registerScriptCommand(program: Command) {
       '--preserve-temp-dir',
       'Leave the temporary staging directory on the filesystem instead of deleting it',
     )
-    .requiredOption(
+    .option(
+      '--export-to <directory>',
+      'Export the plugins to the specified directory, skips building the container image',
+    )
+    .option(
       '-t, --tag <tag>',
-      'Tag name to use when building the plugin registry image',
+      'Tag name to use when building the plugin registry image.  Required if "--export-to" is not specified',
     )
     .option(
       '--use-docker',
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/package-dynamic-plugins/command.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/package-dynamic-plugins/command.ts
index 50f865d4520..9c4f260a5f3 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/package-dynamic-plugins/command.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/package-dynamic-plugins/command.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,13 @@ import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
 import { Task } from '../../lib/tasks';
 
 export async function command(opts: OptionValues): Promise<void> {
-  const { forceExport, preserveTempDir, tag, useDocker } = opts;
+  const { exportTo, forceExport, preserveTempDir, tag, useDocker } = opts;
+  if (!exportTo && !tag) {
+    Task.error(
+      `Neither ${chalk.white('--export-to')} or ${chalk.white('--tag')} was specified, either specify ${chalk.white('--export-to')} to export plugins to a directory or ${chalk.white('--tag')} to export plugins to a container image`,
+    );
+    return;
+  }
   const containerTool = useDocker ? 'docker' : 'podman';
   // check if the container tool is available
   try {
@@ -95,7 +101,12 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues): Promise<void> {
       const targetDirectory = path.join(tmpDir, packageName);
       Task.log(`Copying '${distDirectory}' to '${targetDirectory}`);
       try {
-        fs.cpSync(distDirectory, targetDirectory, { recursive: true });
+        // Copy the exported package to the staging area and ensure symlinks
+        // are copied as normal folders
+        fs.cpSync(distDirectory, targetDirectory, {
+          recursive: true,
+          dereference: true,
+        });
         const {
           name,
           version,
@@ -158,18 +169,29 @@ export async function command(opts: OptionValues): Promise<void> {
       metadataFile,
       JSON.stringify(pluginRegistryMetadata, undefined, 2),
     );
-    // run the command to generate the image
-    Task.log(`Creating image using ${containerTool}`);
-    await Task.forCommand(
-      `echo "from scratch
+    if (exportTo) {
+      // copy the temporary directory contents to the target directory
+      fs.mkdirSync(exportTo, { recursive: true });
+      Task.log(`Writing exported plugins to ${exportTo}`);
+      fs.readdirSync(tmpDir).forEach(entry => {
+        const source = path.join(tmpDir, entry);
+        const destination = path.join(exportTo, entry);
+        fs.copySync(source, destination, { recursive: true, overwrite: true });
+      });
+    } else {
+      // run the command to generate the image
+      Task.log(`Creating image using ${containerTool}`);
+      await Task.forCommand(
+        `echo "from scratch
 COPY . .
 " | ${containerTool} build --annotation com.redhat.rhdh.plugins='${JSON.stringify(pluginRegistryMetadata)}' -t '${tag}' -f - .
     `,
-      { cwd: tmpDir },
-    );
-    Task.log(`Successfully built image ${tag} with following plugins:`);
-    for (const plugin of pluginRegistryMetadata) {
-      Task.log(`  ${chalk.white(Object.keys(plugin)[0])}`);
+        { cwd: tmpDir },
+      );
+      Task.log(`Successfully built image ${tag} with following plugins:`);
+      for (const plugin of pluginRegistryMetadata) {
+        Task.log(`  ${chalk.white(Object.keys(plugin)[0])}`);
+      }
     }
     // print out a configuration example based on available plugin data
     try {