diff --git a/configuration b/configuration
index a43d27058d9..5bec25a9701 100644
--- a/configuration
+++ b/configuration
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export DARTSASS=1.107.1
 export ESBUILD=0.28.2
 export TYPST=0.15.1
 export TYPST_GATHER=0.2.4
+# Keep in sync with kDefaultVersion in src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts
 export VERAPDF=1.30.3
 
 
diff --git a/src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts b/src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts
index 0bb6949559d..fbff0495e31 100644
--- a/src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts
+++ b/src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import { isWindows } from "../../deno_ral/platform.ts";
 
 // Download base URL (quarto.org redirects to S3 bucket)
 const kDownloadBaseUrl = "https://quarto.org/download";
-const kDefaultVersion = "1.30.3";
+export const kDefaultVersion = "1.30.3";
 
 // Minimum Java version required
 const kMinJavaVersion = 8;
diff --git a/tests/unit/verapdf-default-version.test.ts b/tests/unit/verapdf-default-version.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b63bc4e45c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/verapdf-default-version.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+ * verapdf-default-version.test.ts
+ *
+ * Packaged installs don't ship `configuration`, so `quarto install verapdf`
+ * falls back to kDefaultVersion. It must match VERAPDF in `configuration`,
+ * the version the build uploads.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2026 Posit Software, PBC
+ */
+
+import { unitTest } from "../test.ts";
+import { assert, assertEquals } from "../asserts.ts";
+import { dirname, fromFileUrl, join } from "../../src/deno_ral/path.ts";
+import { readTextFileSync } from "../../src/deno_ral/fs.ts";
+import { kDefaultVersion } from "../../src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts";
+
+const repoRoot = join(dirname(fromFileUrl(import.meta.url)), "..", "..");
+
+// deno-lint-ignore require-await
+unitTest("verapdf - kDefaultVersion matches VERAPDF in configuration", async () => {
+  const match = readTextFileSync(join(repoRoot, "configuration")).match(
+    /^export VERAPDF=(.+)$/m,
+  );
+  assert(match, "export VERAPDF=... not found in configuration");
+  assertEquals(
+    kDefaultVersion,
+    match[1].trim(),
+    "kDefaultVersion in src/tools/impl/verapdf.ts must equal VERAPDF in configuration",
+  );
+});