diff --git a/tests/test_envs.py b/tests/test_envs.py
index 3f3add2ab76..b7cf41d34ed 100644
--- a/tests/test_envs.py
+++ b/tests/test_envs.py
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ def test_getattr_without_cache(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
     assert not hasattr(envs.__getattr__, "cache_info")
 
 
+def test_nixl_side_channel_host_is_not_compile_factor(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST", "10.0.0.15")
+
+    assert "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST" not in envs.compile_factors()
+
+
 def test_getattr_with_cache(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
     monkeypatch.setenv("VLLM_HOST_IP", "1.1.1.1")
     monkeypatch.setenv("VLLM_PORT", "1234")
diff --git a/tests/test_ray_env.py b/tests/test_ray_env.py
index c08f088acd2..945b2d80b69 100644
--- a/tests/test_ray_env.py
+++ b/tests/test_ray_env.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import os
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from vllm.ray.ray_env import get_env_vars_to_copy
+from vllm.v1.executor.ray_utils import WORKER_SPECIFIC_ENV_VARS
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Default prefix matching
@@ -106,6 +107,19 @@ class TestExclusion:
         result = get_env_vars_to_copy(exclude_vars={"CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES"})
         assert "CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES" not in result
 
+    @patch.dict(
+        os.environ,
+        {
+            "VLLM_HOST_IP": "10.0.0.1",
+            "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST": "10.0.0.1",
+        },
+        clear=False,
+    )
+    def test_worker_specific_host_vars_are_excluded(self):
+        result = get_env_vars_to_copy(exclude_vars=WORKER_SPECIFIC_ENV_VARS)
+        assert "VLLM_HOST_IP" not in result
+        assert "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST" not in result
+
     @patch.dict(os.environ, {"LMCACHE_LOCAL_CPU": "True"}, clear=False)
     @patch(
         "vllm.ray.ray_env.RAY_NON_CARRY_OVER_ENV_VARS",
diff --git a/tests/v1/engine/test_core_engine_actor_manager.py b/tests/v1/engine/test_core_engine_actor_manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..195ddda05a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/v1/engine/test_core_engine_actor_manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright contributors to the vLLM project
+
+import os
+import uuid
+from pathlib import Path
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from typing import Any
+
+import pytest
+import ray
+
+from vllm.v1.engine.core import EngineCoreActorMixin
+from vllm.v1.engine.utils import CoreEngineActorManager, EngineZmqAddresses
+
+
+class _StubEngineCoreActor(EngineCoreActorMixin):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        vllm_config: Any,
+        local_client: bool,
+        addresses: EngineZmqAddresses,
+        executor_class: type[Any],
+        log_stats: bool,
+        dp_rank: int = 0,
+        local_dp_rank: int = 0,
+    ):
+        # Exercise the production Ray actor mixin without loading a model.
+        EngineCoreActorMixin.__init__(
+            self, vllm_config, addresses, dp_rank, local_dp_rank
+        )
+
+    def _set_visible_devices(self, vllm_config: Any, local_dp_rank: int) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def wait_for_init(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def run(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def get_nixl_side_channel_host(self) -> str | None:
+        return os.environ.get("VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST")
+
+
+class _DummyExecutor:
+    pass
+
+
+def _make_vllm_config() -> SimpleNamespace:
+    return SimpleNamespace(
+        parallel_config=SimpleNamespace(
+            data_parallel_size=1,
+            data_parallel_size_local=1,
+            enable_elastic_ep=False,
+            world_size=1,
+        ),
+        model_config=SimpleNamespace(is_moe=False),
+        kv_transfer_config=None,
+    )
+
+
+def _make_addresses() -> EngineZmqAddresses:
+    return EngineZmqAddresses(
+        inputs=["tcp://127.0.0.1:12345"],
+        outputs=["tcp://127.0.0.1:12346"],
+    )
+
+
+def _make_cpu_placement_group():
+    pg = ray.util.placement_group(
+        [{"CPU": 0.001}, {"CPU": 1.0}],
+        strategy="PACK",
+    )
+    ray.get(pg.ready())
+    return pg
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def ray_context():
+    started_ray = False
+    if not ray.is_initialized():
+        project_root = str(Path(__file__).resolve().parents[3])
+        ray.init(
+            num_cpus=2,
+            runtime_env={"env_vars": {"PYTHONPATH": project_root}},
+            log_to_driver=False,
+        )
+        started_ray = True
+
+    yield
+
+    if started_ray:
+        ray.shutdown()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("ray_context")
+def test_driver_nixl_side_channel_host_does_not_leak_to_engine_core_actor(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    driver_marker = f"driver-only-nixl-host-{uuid.uuid4()}"
+    created_placement_groups: list[Any] = []
+    manager: CoreEngineActorManager | None = None
+
+    def create_dp_placement_groups(vllm_config: Any):
+        pg = _make_cpu_placement_group()
+        created_placement_groups.append(pg)
+        return [pg], [0]
+
+    monkeypatch.setenv("VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST", driver_marker)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("vllm.v1.engine.core.EngineCoreActor", _StubEngineCoreActor)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        CoreEngineActorManager,
+        "create_dp_placement_groups",
+        staticmethod(create_dp_placement_groups),
+    )
+
+    try:
+        manager = CoreEngineActorManager(
+            vllm_config=_make_vllm_config(),
+            addresses=_make_addresses(),
+            executor_class=_DummyExecutor,
+            log_stats=False,
+        )
+        actor = manager.local_engine_actors[0]
+        actor_host = ray.get(actor.get_nixl_side_channel_host.remote())
+        node_host = ray.util.get_node_ip_address()
+
+        assert actor_host != driver_marker
+        assert actor_host == node_host
+    finally:
+        if manager is not None:
+            manager.shutdown()
+        else:
+            for pg in created_placement_groups:
+                ray.util.remove_placement_group(pg)
diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl/scheduler.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl/scheduler.py
index a053f2c3261..285e054dddc 100644
--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl/scheduler.py
+++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl/scheduler.py
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ class NixlConnectorScheduler:
                     encoded_data,
                     ready_event,
                     self._stop_event,
+                    self.side_channel_host,
                     self.side_channel_port,
                 ),
                 daemon=True,
@@ -222,6 +223,7 @@ class NixlConnectorScheduler:
         encoded_data: dict[int, Any],
         ready_event: threading.Event,
         stop_event: threading.Event,
+        host: str,
         port: int,
     ):
         """Background thread for getting new NIXL handshakes."""
@@ -229,7 +231,6 @@ class NixlConnectorScheduler:
         # to a better approach via HTTP endpoint soon.
 
         # Listen for new requests for metadata.
-        host = envs.VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST
         path = make_zmq_path("tcp", host, port)
         logger.debug("Starting listening on path: %s", path)
         with zmq_ctx(zmq.ROUTER, path) as sock:
diff --git a/vllm/envs.py b/vllm/envs.py
index ded474dc085..0919957229a 100755
--- a/vllm/envs.py
+++ b/vllm/envs.py
@@ -1884,6 +1884,7 @@ def compile_factors() -> dict[str, object]:
         "VLLM_SERVER_DEV_MODE",
         "VLLM_DP_MASTER_IP",
         "VLLM_DP_MASTER_PORT",
+        "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST",
         "VLLM_RANDOMIZE_DP_DUMMY_INPUTS",
         "VLLM_CI_USE_S3",
         "VLLM_MODEL_REDIRECT_PATH",
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/core.py b/vllm/v1/engine/core.py
index 122cdd8f965..07d3cca0518 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/core.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/core.py
@@ -2005,6 +2005,8 @@ class EngineCoreActorMixin:
         vllm_config.parallel_config.data_parallel_index = dp_rank
         vllm_config.parallel_config.data_parallel_rank_local = local_dp_rank
 
+        self._set_nixl_side_channel_host()
+
         # Set CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES as early as possible in actor life cycle
         # NOTE: in MP we set CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES at process creation time,
         # and this cannot be done in the same way for Ray because:
@@ -2024,6 +2026,16 @@ class EngineCoreActorMixin:
         # of ray.
         self._set_visible_devices(vllm_config, local_dp_rank)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _set_nixl_side_channel_host():
+        import ray
+
+        # The driver-side value is excluded from Ray actor env propagation.
+        # Fill in an actor-local default while preserving explicit overrides.
+        os.environ.setdefault(
+            "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST", ray.util.get_node_ip_address()
+        )
+
     def _set_visible_devices(self, vllm_config: VllmConfig, local_dp_rank: int):
         from vllm.platforms import current_platform
 
diff --git a/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py b/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
index a28c1366dd8..28df7bbc718 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/engine/utils.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ from vllm.utils.network_utils import get_open_zmq_ipc_path, zmq_socket_ctx
 from vllm.utils.system_utils import get_mp_context
 from vllm.v1.engine.coordinator import DPCoordinator
 from vllm.v1.executor import Executor
+from vllm.v1.executor.ray_utils import WORKER_SPECIFIC_ENV_VARS
 from vllm.v1.utils import get_engine_client_zmq_addr, shutdown
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -356,7 +357,10 @@ class CoreEngineActorManager:
         self.local_engine_actors: list[ray.ActorHandle] = []
         self.remote_engine_actors: list[ray.ActorHandle] = []
 
-        env_vars_list = get_env_vars_to_copy(destination=actor_class.__name__)
+        env_vars_list = get_env_vars_to_copy(
+            destination=actor_class.__name__,
+            exclude_vars=WORKER_SPECIFIC_ENV_VARS,
+        )
         self.env_vars_dict = {
             name: os.environ[name] for name in env_vars_list if name in os.environ
         }
diff --git a/vllm/v1/executor/ray_utils.py b/vllm/v1/executor/ray_utils.py
index 1541b24deaa..9083b919591 100644
--- a/vllm/v1/executor/ray_utils.py
+++ b/vllm/v1/executor/ray_utils.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ PG_WAIT_TIMEOUT = 1800
 WORKER_SPECIFIC_ENV_VARS: set[str] = {
     "VLLM_HOST_IP",
     "VLLM_HOST_PORT",
+    "VLLM_NIXL_SIDE_CHANNEL_HOST",
     "LOCAL_RANK",
     "CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES",
     "HIP_VISIBLE_DEVICES",