diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/index.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/index.ts
index 7364ec210313a..b7718155c5424 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/index.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 import { groupBy } from 'lodash';
 import type { Values } from '@kbn/utility-types';
-import type { Logger } from 'src/core/server';
+import type { Logger, PackageInfo } from 'src/core/server';
 import type { LayoutParams } from '../../../common';
 import { LayoutTypes } from '../../../common';
 import type { Layout } from '../../layouts';
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ function getTimeRange(results: CaptureResult['results']) {
 
 export async function toPdf(
   logger: Logger,
+  packageInfo: PackageInfo,
   layout: Layout,
   { logo, title }: PdfScreenshotOptions,
   { metrics, results }: CaptureResult
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ export async function toPdf(
       results,
       layout,
       logo,
+      packageInfo,
       logger,
     });
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/index.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/index.ts
index ce5ea3cab813c..2c5439267ffc4 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/index.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
-import type { Logger } from 'src/core/server';
+import type { Logger, PackageInfo } from 'src/core/server';
 import { PdfMaker } from './pdfmaker';
 import type { Layout } from '../../../layouts';
 import { getTracker } from './tracker';
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import type { CaptureResult } from '../../../screenshots';
 interface PngsToPdfArgs {
   results: CaptureResult['results'];
   layout: Layout;
+  packageInfo: PackageInfo;
   logger: Logger;
   logo?: string;
   title?: string;
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@ export async function pngsToPdf({
   layout,
   logo,
   title,
+  packageInfo,
   logger,
 }: PngsToPdfArgs): Promise<{ buffer: Buffer; pages: number }> {
-  const pdfMaker = new PdfMaker(layout, logo, logger);
+  const pdfMaker = new PdfMaker(layout, logo, packageInfo, logger);
   const tracker = getTracker();
   if (title) {
     pdfMaker.setTitle(title);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/integration_tests/pdfmaker.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/integration_tests/pdfmaker.test.ts
index d3c9f2003dd4e..e08cf808abbc5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/integration_tests/pdfmaker.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/integration_tests/pdfmaker.test.ts
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@
 
 /* eslint-disable max-classes-per-file */
 
+import { PackageInfo } from 'kibana/server';
 import path from 'path';
 import { loggingSystemMock } from 'src/core/server/mocks';
 import { isUint8Array } from 'util/types';
-import { createMockLayout } from '../../../../layouts/mock';
 import { errors } from '../../../../../common';
+import { createMockLayout } from '../../../../layouts/mock';
 import { PdfMaker } from '../pdfmaker';
 
 const imageBase64 = Buffer.from(
@@ -23,11 +24,19 @@ describe('PdfMaker', () => {
   let layout: ReturnType<typeof createMockLayout>;
   let pdf: PdfMaker;
   let logger: ReturnType<typeof loggingSystemMock.createLogger>;
+  let packageInfo: Readonly<PackageInfo>;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     layout = createMockLayout();
     logger = loggingSystemMock.createLogger();
-    pdf = new PdfMaker(layout, undefined, logger);
+    packageInfo = {
+      branch: 'screenshot-test',
+      buildNum: 567891011,
+      buildSha: 'screenshot-dfdfed0a',
+      dist: false,
+      version: '1000.0.0',
+    };
+    pdf = new PdfMaker(layout, undefined, packageInfo, logger);
   });
 
   describe('generate', () => {
@@ -56,14 +65,14 @@ describe('PdfMaker', () => {
         protected workerMaxOldHeapSizeMb = 2;
         protected workerMaxYoungHeapSizeMb = 2;
         protected workerModulePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './memory_leak_worker.js');
-      })(layout, undefined, logger);
+      })(layout, undefined, packageInfo, logger);
       await expect(leakyMaker.generate()).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(errors.PdfWorkerOutOfMemoryError);
     });
 
     it('restarts the PDF worker if it crashes', async () => {
       const buggyMaker = new (class BuggyPdfMaker extends PdfMaker {
         protected workerModulePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './buggy_worker.js');
-      })(layout, undefined, logger);
+      })(layout, undefined, packageInfo, logger);
 
       await expect(buggyMaker.generate()).rejects.toThrowError(new Error('This is a bug'));
       await expect(buggyMaker.generate()).rejects.toThrowError(new Error('This is a bug'));
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/pdfmaker.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/pdfmaker.ts
index f32bec1e3ed38..a10f259e5c9e5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/pdfmaker.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/pdfmaker.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
-import type { Logger } from 'src/core/server';
+import type { Logger, PackageInfo } from 'src/core/server';
 import { SerializableRecord } from '@kbn/utility-types';
 import path from 'path';
 import { Content, ContentImage, ContentText } from 'pdfmake/interfaces';
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export class PdfMaker {
   private worker?: Worker;
   private pageCount: number = 0;
 
-  protected workerModulePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './worker.js');
+  protected workerModulePath: string;
 
   /**
    * The maximum heap size for old memory region of the worker thread.
@@ -65,10 +65,18 @@ export class PdfMaker {
   constructor(
     private readonly layout: Layout,
     private readonly logo: string | undefined,
+    { dist }: PackageInfo,
     private readonly logger: Logger
   ) {
     this.title = '';
     this.content = [];
+
+    // running in dist: `worker.ts` becomes `worker.js`
+    // running in source: `worker_src_harness.ts` needs to be wrapped in JS and have a ts-node environment initialized.
+    this.workerModulePath = path.resolve(
+      __dirname,
+      dist ? './worker.js' : './worker_src_harness.js'
+    );
   }
 
   _addContents(contents: Content[]) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker.js b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker_src_harness.js
similarity index 64%
rename from x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker.js
rename to x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker_src_harness.js
index d3dfa3e9accf8..e180c130bc4af 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker.js
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/formats/pdf/pdf_maker/worker_src_harness.js
@@ -5,5 +5,10 @@
  * 2.0.
  */
 
+/**
+ * This file is the harness for importing worker.ts with Kibana running in dev mode.
+ * The TS file needs to be compiled on the fly, unlike when Kibana is running as a dist.
+ */
+
 require('../../../../../../../src/setup_node_env');
 require('./worker.ts');
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/plugin.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/plugin.ts
index 3f97de22d5e4b..2f675335d4393 100755
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/plugin.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
   CoreSetup,
   CoreStart,
   Logger,
+  PackageInfo,
   Plugin,
   PluginInitializerContext,
 } from 'src/core/server';
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ export interface ScreenshottingStart {
 export class ScreenshottingPlugin implements Plugin<void, ScreenshottingStart, SetupDeps> {
   private config: ConfigType;
   private logger: Logger;
+  private packageInfo: PackageInfo;
   private screenshotMode!: ScreenshotModePluginSetup;
   private browserDriverFactory!: Promise<HeadlessChromiumDriverFactory>;
   private screenshots!: Promise<Screenshots>;
@@ -52,6 +54,7 @@ export class ScreenshottingPlugin implements Plugin<void, ScreenshottingStart, S
   constructor(context: PluginInitializerContext<ConfigType>) {
     this.logger = context.logger.get();
     this.config = context.config.get();
+    this.packageInfo = context.env.packageInfo;
   }
 
   setup({ http }: CoreSetup, { screenshotMode }: SetupDeps) {
@@ -82,7 +85,7 @@ export class ScreenshottingPlugin implements Plugin<void, ScreenshottingStart, S
       const browserDriverFactory = await this.browserDriverFactory;
       const logger = this.logger.get('screenshot');
 
-      return new Screenshots(browserDriverFactory, logger, http, this.config);
+      return new Screenshots(browserDriverFactory, logger, this.packageInfo, http, this.config);
     })();
     // Already handled in `browserDriverFactory`
     this.screenshots.catch(() => {});
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.test.ts
index 84a0974b0f8bc..eef98ceea34ba 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.test.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
  */
 
 import { of, throwError } from 'rxjs';
-import type { Logger } from 'src/core/server';
+import type { Logger, PackageInfo } from 'src/core/server';
 import { httpServiceMock } from 'src/core/server/mocks';
 import {
   SCREENSHOTTING_APP_ID,
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ describe('Screenshot Observable Pipeline', () => {
   let http: ReturnType<typeof httpServiceMock.createSetupContract>;
   let layout: ReturnType<typeof createMockLayout>;
   let logger: jest.Mocked<Logger>;
+  let packageInfo: Readonly<PackageInfo>;
   let options: ScreenshotOptions;
   let screenshots: Screenshots;
 
@@ -44,6 +45,13 @@ describe('Screenshot Observable Pipeline', () => {
       error: jest.fn(),
       info: jest.fn(),
     } as unknown as jest.Mocked<Logger>;
+    packageInfo = {
+      branch: 'screenshot-test',
+      buildNum: 567891011,
+      buildSha: 'screenshot-dfdfed0a',
+      dist: false,
+      version: '5000.0.0',
+    };
     options = {
       browserTimezone: 'UTC',
       headers: {},
@@ -56,7 +64,9 @@ describe('Screenshot Observable Pipeline', () => {
       },
       urls: ['/welcome/home/start/index.htm'],
     } as unknown as typeof options;
-    screenshots = new Screenshots(driverFactory, logger, http, { poolSize: 1 } as ConfigType);
+    screenshots = new Screenshots(driverFactory, logger, packageInfo, http, {
+      poolSize: 1,
+    } as ConfigType);
 
     jest.spyOn(Layouts, 'createLayout').mockReturnValue(layout);
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.ts b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.ts
index 8672babe8b514..cfd5c76093d3b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/screenshotting/server/screenshots/index.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import {
   tap,
   toArray,
 } from 'rxjs/operators';
-import type { HttpServiceSetup, KibanaRequest, Logger } from 'src/core/server';
+import type { HttpServiceSetup, KibanaRequest, Logger, PackageInfo } from 'src/core/server';
 import type { ExpressionAstExpression } from 'src/plugins/expressions/common';
 import {
   LayoutParams,
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ export class Screenshots {
   constructor(
     private readonly browserDriverFactory: HeadlessChromiumDriverFactory,
     private readonly logger: Logger,
+    private readonly packageInfo: PackageInfo,
     private readonly http: HttpServiceSetup,
     { poolSize }: ConfigType
   ) {
@@ -214,7 +215,7 @@ export class Screenshots {
       mergeMap((result) => {
         switch (options.format) {
           case 'pdf':
-            return toPdf(this.logger, layout, options, result);
+            return toPdf(this.logger, this.packageInfo, layout, options, result);
           default:
             return toPng(result);
         }