diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6cd56464..f53cdc26 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Improvements
+
+- Plugin: dont use `latest.release` as default for the KMP dependency ([#262](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform/pull/262))
+
 ### Dependencies
 
 - **Gradle Plugin:** Bump default Cocoa SDK from v8.26.0 to v8.36.0 ([#261](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform/pull/261))
diff --git a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index f457018c..af287258 100644
--- a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ buildConfig {
         "SentryCocoaVersion",
         provider { "\"${project.property("sentryCocoaVersion")}\"" }
     )
+    buildConfigField(
+        "String",
+        "SentryKmpVersion",
+        provider { "\"${project.property("versionName")}\"" }
+    )
 }
 
 detekt { config.setFrom(rootProject.files("../config/detekt/detekt.yml")) }
diff --git a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SourceSetAutoInstallExtension.kt b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SourceSetAutoInstallExtension.kt
index c2dff135..6e4ec17c 100644
--- a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SourceSetAutoInstallExtension.kt
+++ b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SourceSetAutoInstallExtension.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.sentry.kotlin.multiplatform.gradle
 
+import io.sentry.BuildConfig
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.provider.Property
 import javax.inject.Inject
@@ -19,10 +20,10 @@ abstract class SourceSetAutoInstallExtension @Inject constructor(project: Projec
     /**
      * Overrides the default Sentry Kotlin Multiplatform SDK dependency version.
      *
-     * Defaults to the latest version of the Sentry Kotlin Multiplatform SDK.
+     * Defaults to the version of this plugin which is synchronized with the KMP SDK version.
      */
     val sentryKmpVersion: Property<String> =
         objects
             .property(String::class.java)
-            .convention("latest.release") // Replace with the actual default version
+            .convention(BuildConfig.SentryKmpVersion)
 }
diff --git a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SentryPluginTest.kt b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SentryPluginTest.kt
index dfa841aa..0cf1a25f 100644
--- a/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SentryPluginTest.kt
+++ b/sentry-kotlin-multiplatform-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/io/sentry/kotlin/multiplatform/gradle/SentryPluginTest.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.sentry.kotlin.multiplatform.gradle
 
+import io.sentry.BuildConfig
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.ExtensionAware
 import org.gradle.testfixtures.ProjectBuilder
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.dsl.KotlinMultiplatformExtension
@@ -11,6 +12,8 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource
 import java.io.File
 
 class SentryPluginTest {
@@ -74,6 +77,38 @@ class SentryPluginTest {
         assertNotNull(project.extensions.getByName("commonMain"))
     }
 
+    @Test
+    fun `default kmp version is set in commonMain extension`() {
+        val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+        project.pluginManager.apply("io.sentry.kotlin.multiplatform.gradle")
+
+        val sourceSetAutoInstallExtension = project.extensions.getByName("commonMain") as SourceSetAutoInstallExtension
+        assertEquals(BuildConfig.SentryKmpVersion, sourceSetAutoInstallExtension.sentryKmpVersion.get())
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `custom kmp version overrides default in commonMain extension`() {
+        val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+        project.pluginManager.apply("io.sentry.kotlin.multiplatform.gradle")
+
+        val autoInstallExtension = project.extensions.getByName("autoInstall") as AutoInstallExtension
+        autoInstallExtension.commonMain.sentryKmpVersion.set("1.2.3")
+
+        assertEquals("1.2.3", autoInstallExtension.commonMain.sentryKmpVersion.get())
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @ValueSource(strings = ["1.0.0", "2.3.4-SNAPSHOT", "latest.release"])
+    fun `sentryKmpVersion accepts various version formats in commonMain extension`(version: String) {
+        val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+        project.pluginManager.apply("io.sentry.kotlin.multiplatform.gradle")
+
+        val autoInstallExtension = project.extensions.getByName("autoInstall") as AutoInstallExtension
+        autoInstallExtension.commonMain.sentryKmpVersion.set(version)
+
+        assertEquals(version, autoInstallExtension.commonMain.sentryKmpVersion.get())
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun `when autoInstall is disabled, no installations are performed`() {
         val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()