diff --git a/packages/create-react-native-library/templates/native-common/android/build.gradle b/packages/create-react-native-library/templates/native-common/android/build.gradle
index a9daaba3d..c28839367 100644
--- a/packages/create-react-native-library/templates/native-common/android/build.gradle
+++ b/packages/create-react-native-library/templates/native-common/android/build.gradle
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ android {
   }
 <% if (project.moduleConfig === 'nitro-modules' || project.viewConfig === 'nitro-view') { -%>
 
+  if (rootProject.ext.has("ndkVersion")) {
+    ndkVersion rootProject.ext.ndkVersion
+  }
+
   externalNativeBuild {
     cmake {
       path "CMakeLists.txt"