diff --git a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/validation_test.go
index 1fa4b2eed1..b93cd93992 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/eksctl.io/v1alpha5/validation_test.go
@@ -2087,15 +2087,6 @@ var _ = Describe("ClusterConfig validation", func() {
 			err := api.ValidateManagedNodeGroup(0, ng)
 			Expect(err).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring("eksctl does not support configuring maxPodsPerNode EKS-managed nodes")))
 		})
-		It("returns an error when setting preBootstrapCommands for self-managed nodegroups", func() {
-			cfg := api.NewClusterConfig()
-			ng := cfg.NewNodeGroup()
-			ng.Name = "node-group"
-			ng.AMI = "ami-1234"
-			ng.AMIFamily = api.NodeImageFamilyAmazonLinux2023
-			ng.PreBootstrapCommands = []string{"echo 'rubarb'"}
-			Expect(api.ValidateNodeGroup(0, ng, cfg)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring(fmt.Sprintf("preBootstrapCommands is not supported for %s nodegroups", api.NodeImageFamilyAmazonLinux2023))))
-		})
 		It("returns an error when setting overrideBootstrapCommand for self-managed nodegroups", func() {
 			cfg := api.NewClusterConfig()
 			ng := cfg.NewNodeGroup()
@@ -2105,14 +2096,6 @@ var _ = Describe("ClusterConfig validation", func() {
 			ng.OverrideBootstrapCommand = aws.String("echo 'rubarb'")
 			Expect(api.ValidateNodeGroup(0, ng, cfg)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring(fmt.Sprintf("overrideBootstrapCommand is not supported for %s nodegroups", api.NodeImageFamilyAmazonLinux2023))))
 		})
-		It("returns an error when setting preBootstrapCommands for EKS-managed nodegroups", func() {
-			ng := api.NewManagedNodeGroup()
-			ng.Name = "node-group"
-			ng.AMI = "ami-1234"
-			ng.AMIFamily = api.NodeImageFamilyAmazonLinux2023
-			ng.PreBootstrapCommands = []string{"echo 'rubarb'"}
-			Expect(api.ValidateManagedNodeGroup(0, ng)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring(fmt.Sprintf("preBootstrapCommands is not supported for %s nodegroups", api.NodeImageFamilyAmazonLinux2023))))
-		})
 		It("returns an error when setting overrideBootstrapCommand for EKS-managed nodegroups", func() {
 			ng := api.NewManagedNodeGroup()
 			ng.Name = "node-group"
diff --git a/pkg/nodebootstrap/al2023.go b/pkg/nodebootstrap/al2023.go
index 1943f92823..2fcc28e8b2 100644
--- a/pkg/nodebootstrap/al2023.go
+++ b/pkg/nodebootstrap/al2023.go
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ func (m *AL2023) UserData() (string, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("generating node config: %w", err)
 	}
+
+	for _, command := range m.nodePool.BaseNodeGroup().PreBootstrapCommands {
+		m.scripts = append(m.scripts, "#!/bin/bash\n"+command)
+	}
+
 	if len(m.scripts) == 0 && len(m.cloudboot) == 0 && nodeConfig == nil {
 		return "", nil
 	}