diff --git a/meta-zephyr-core/conf/layer.conf b/meta-zephyr-core/conf/layer.conf
index e1bb263..e355b3f 100644
--- a/meta-zephyr-core/conf/layer.conf
+++ b/meta-zephyr-core/conf/layer.conf
@@ -20,3 +20,7 @@ LAYERSERIES_COMPAT_zephyrcore = "kirkstone scarthgap"
 PYTHON3_NATIVE_SITEPACKAGES_DIR = "${libdir_native}/${PYTHON3_DIR}/site-packages"
 
 addpylib ${LAYERDIR}/lib oeqa
+
+# Default to a stable version
+PREFERRED_VERSION_zephyr-kernel ??= "3.6.0"
+PREFERRED_VERSION_zephyr-sdk ??= "0.16.9"
diff --git a/meta-zephyr-core/recipes-kernel/zephyr-kernel/zephyr-kernel-src.inc b/meta-zephyr-core/recipes-kernel/zephyr-kernel/zephyr-kernel-src.inc
index 0b9baac..6b2b697 100644
--- a/meta-zephyr-core/recipes-kernel/zephyr-kernel/zephyr-kernel-src.inc
+++ b/meta-zephyr-core/recipes-kernel/zephyr-kernel/zephyr-kernel-src.inc
@@ -11,6 +11,4 @@ inherit cmake
 FILESEXTRAPATHS:prepend := "${THISDIR}/files:"
 S = "${WORKDIR}/git"
 
-# Default to a stable version
-PREFERRED_VERSION_zephyr-kernel ??= "3.6.0"
 require recipes-kernel/zephyr-kernel/zephyr-kernel-src-${PREFERRED_VERSION_zephyr-kernel}.inc