diff --git a/app/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker.rb b/app/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker.rb
index 8023fe462b1759d041e86c81bf284c9ef4806b32..5aaa25903a99a86acddae09dfe31ed7450034a2a 100644
--- a/app/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker.rb
+++ b/app/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker.rb
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ def queue_key
     end
 
     def skip_protected_pipelines?(project)
-      Feature.enabled?(:ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines, project.root_namespace, type: :wip)
+      Feature.enabled?(:ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines, project.root_namespace, type: :wip) &&
+        Feature.disabled?(:ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override, project, type: :wip)
     end
 
     def skip_locked_pipelines?(project)
diff --git a/config/feature_flags/wip/ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override.yml b/config/feature_flags/wip/ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f07bbb30a9aa1db77da3a720c4a1f1cb204c260f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/feature_flags/wip/ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+name: ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override
+description:
+feature_issue_url:
+introduced_by_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/204657
+rollout_issue_url:
+milestone: '18.4'
+group: group::ci platform
+type: wip
+default_enabled: false
diff --git a/spec/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker_spec.rb b/spec/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker_spec.rb
index c2ff0e8b47646f35f2b15d0272b0f9148ae8a71d..cb1c1858d5d633b846521ffcf9e3169632718691 100644
--- a/spec/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/workers/ci/destroy_old_pipelines_worker_spec.rb
@@ -46,12 +46,29 @@
 
     context 'when protected pipelines are configured' do
       let_it_be(:old_protected_pipeline) do
-        create(:ci_pipeline, project: project, created_at: 1.month.ago, protected: true)
+        create(:ci_pipeline, project: project, created_at: 1.month.ago, protected: true, locked: :unlocked)
       end
 
-      it 'keeps protected pipelines' do
-        expect { perform }.to change { project.all_pipelines.count }.by(-2)
-        expect(old_protected_pipeline.reload).to be_present
+      context 'when the override FF is disabled' do
+        before do
+          stub_feature_flags(ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override: false)
+        end
+
+        it 'keeps protected pipelines' do
+          expect { perform }.to change { project.all_pipelines.count }.by(-2)
+          expect(old_protected_pipeline.reload).to be_present
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when overriding the protected pipelines FF' do
+        before do
+          stub_feature_flags(ci_skip_old_protected_pipelines_override: true)
+        end
+
+        it 'deletes protected pipelines' do
+          expect { perform }.to change { project.all_pipelines.count }.by(-3)
+          expect { old_protected_pipeline.reload }.to raise_error ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
+        end
       end
     end