diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index cfc6a750..d0a187bc 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -88,10 +88,14 @@ tasks.register<Test>("integrationTest") {
 
 val generatedVersionDir = layout.buildDirectory.dir("generated-version")
 
+// Not "version.properties" at the jar root. stream-chat-java ships that same name, and
+// ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream returns whichever jar comes first.
+val sdkVersionResource = "io/getstream/stream-sdk-java/version.properties"
+
 tasks.register("generateVersionProperties") {
     doLast {
-        val f = layout.buildDirectory.file("generated-version/version.properties")
-        val propertiesFile = f.get().asFile
+        val propertiesFile =
+            layout.buildDirectory.file("generated-version/$sdkVersionResource").get().asFile
         propertiesFile.parentFile.mkdirs()
         val properties = Properties()
         properties.setProperty("version", version.toString())
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/getstream/services/framework/StreamHTTPClient.java b/src/main/java/io/getstream/services/framework/StreamHTTPClient.java
index 9dc86ed7..e679be35 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/getstream/services/framework/StreamHTTPClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/getstream/services/framework/StreamHTTPClient.java
@@ -132,12 +132,23 @@ public StreamHTTPClient(Properties properties, @NotNull StreamClientOptions opti
         .compact();
   }
 
+  // Unique to this jar. A root version.properties collides with stream-chat-java (and any
+  // other dependency that ships that name): the classloader returns the first match.
+  private static final String VERSION_RESOURCE = "/io/getstream/stream-sdk-java/version.properties";
+
   private static @NotNull String readSdkVersion() {
-    var clsLoader = StreamHTTPClient.class.getClassLoader();
-    try (var inputStream = clsLoader.getResourceAsStream("version.properties")) {
+    try (var inputStream = StreamHTTPClient.class.getResourceAsStream(VERSION_RESOURCE)) {
+      if (inputStream == null) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("missing SDK version resource " + VERSION_RESOURCE);
+      }
       var properties = new Properties();
       properties.load(inputStream);
-      return properties.getProperty("version");
+      var version = properties.getProperty("version");
+      if (version == null || version.isBlank()) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException(
+            "SDK version resource " + VERSION_RESOURCE + " has no version");
+      }
+      return version;
     } catch (IOException ex) {
       throw new IllegalStateException(ex);
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/LoggingTest.java b/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/LoggingTest.java
index 04e98f9a..9b0510f0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/LoggingTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/LoggingTest.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ void clientInitializedOnceWithSchema() {
     var inits = log.named("client.initialized");
     assertEquals(1, inits.size());
     String m = inits.get(0).message();
-    // sdk.name is a fixed constant; version is present but its value depends on version.properties.
+    // sdk.name is a fixed constant; version is present but its value comes from this SDK's jar.
     assertTrue(m.contains("stream.sdk.name=stream-sdk-java"), m);
     assertTrue(m.contains("stream.sdk.version="), m);
     // Pool/timeout knobs equal the StreamClientOptions defaults for a default-options client.
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/SdkVersionTest.java b/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/SdkVersionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a10fa748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/getstream/services/framework/SdkVersionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package io.getstream.services.framework;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Properties;
+import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockResponse;
+import okhttp3.mockwebserver.MockWebServer;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+// src/test/resources/version.properties is on the classpath ahead of the SDK jar and would be
+// what ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream("version.properties") returned. The header must ignore it.
+public class SdkVersionTest {
+  private MockWebServer server;
+
+  @BeforeEach
+  void setUp() throws Exception {
+    server = new MockWebServer();
+    server.start();
+  }
+
+  @AfterEach
+  void tearDown() throws Exception {
+    server.shutdown();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void clientHeaderUsesThisSdkVersionWhenAnotherVersionPropertiesIsFirst() throws Exception {
+    try (var decoy =
+        StreamHTTPClient.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("version.properties")) {
+      assertNotNull(decoy, "the test fixture version.properties is not on the classpath");
+      var decoyProps = new Properties();
+      decoyProps.load(decoy);
+      assertEquals("0.0.0-collision", decoyProps.getProperty("version"));
+    }
+
+    String expected;
+    try (var own =
+        StreamHTTPClient.class.getResourceAsStream(
+            "/io/getstream/stream-sdk-java/version.properties")) {
+      assertNotNull(own);
+      var ownProps = new Properties();
+      ownProps.load(own);
+      expected = "stream-java-client-" + ownProps.getProperty("version");
+    }
+
+    server.enqueue(new MockResponse().setResponseCode(200).setBody("{}"));
+    var client = new StreamHTTPClient("key", "012345678901234567890123456789ab");
+    client.setBaseUrl(server.url("/").toString());
+    new StreamRequest<Map<String, Object>>(
+            client, "GET", "/api/v2/app", null, null, new TypeReference<>() {})
+        .execute();
+
+    assertEquals(expected, server.takeRequest().getHeader("X-Stream-Client"));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/resources/version.properties b/src/test/resources/version.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3440ca8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/version.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+version=0.0.0-collision