diff --git a/sdks/java/io/kafka/build.gradle b/sdks/java/io/kafka/build.gradle
index c2f056b0b7cb..04563c478d6d 100644
--- a/sdks/java/io/kafka/build.gradle
+++ b/sdks/java/io/kafka/build.gradle
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ enableJavaPerformanceTesting()
 description = "Apache Beam :: SDKs :: Java :: IO :: Kafka"
 ext {
     summary = "Library to read Kafka topics."
-    confluentVersion = "7.6.0"
+    // newer versions e.g. 7.6.* require dropping support for older kafka versions.
+    confluentVersion = "7.5.5"
 }
 
 def kafkaVersions = [