diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index aa51851bf2..9becbc0051 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ option(FILAMENT_SUPPORTS_XCB "Include XCB support in Linux builds" ON)
 
 option(FILAMENT_SUPPORTS_XLIB "Include XLIB support in Linux builds" ON)
 
+set(FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION "" CACHE STRING
+    "Android NDK version or version prefix to be used when building for Android."
+)
+
 set(FILAMENT_PER_RENDER_PASS_ARENA_SIZE_IN_MB "2" CACHE STRING
     "Per render pass arena size. Must be roughly 1 MB larger than FILAMENT_PER_FRAME_COMMANDS_SIZE_IN_MB, default 2."
 )
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 620e273af7..015a7dd5b0 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -103,10 +103,12 @@ function print_matdbg_help {
     echo ""
 }
 
+# Unless explicitly specified, NDK version will be selected as highest available version within same major release chain
+FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION=${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION:-$(cat `dirname $0`/build/android/ndk.version | cut -f 1 -d ".")}
+
 # Requirements
 CMAKE_MAJOR=3
 CMAKE_MINOR=19
-ANDROID_NDK_VERSION=22
 
 # Internal variables
 ISSUE_CLEAN=false
@@ -322,6 +324,7 @@ function build_android_target {
             -G "${BUILD_GENERATOR}" \
             -DIMPORT_EXECUTABLES_DIR=out \
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="$1" \
+            -DFILAMENT_NDK_VERSION="${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}" \
             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="../android-${lc_target}/filament" \
             -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="../../build/toolchain-${arch}-linux-android.cmake" \
             ${MATDBG_OPTION} \
@@ -366,16 +369,9 @@ function ensure_android_build {
         exit 1
     fi
 
-    local ndk_side_by_side="${ANDROID_HOME}/ndk/"
-    if [[ -d ${ndk_side_by_side} ]]; then
-        # shellcheck disable=SC2012
-        local ndk_version=$(ls "${ndk_side_by_side}" | sort -V | tail -n 1 | cut -f 1 -d ".")
-        if [[ ${ndk_version} -lt ${ANDROID_NDK_VERSION} ]]; then
-            echo "Error: Android NDK side-by-side version ${ANDROID_NDK_VERSION} or higher must be installed, exiting"
-            exit 1
-        fi
-    else
-        echo "Error: Android NDK side-by-side version ${ANDROID_NDK_VERSION} or higher must be installed, exiting"
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2012
+    if [[ -z $(ls "${ANDROID_HOME}/ndk/" | sort -V | grep "^${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}") ]]; then
+        echo "Error: Android NDK side-by-side version ${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION} or compatible must be installed, exiting"
         exit 1
     fi
 
diff --git a/build/android/build.sh b/build/android/build.sh
index b2976d1cc2..c4b798dc61 100755
--- a/build/android/build.sh
+++ b/build/android/build.sh
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@
 #
 # The default is release
 
-NDK_VERSION="ndk;22.1.7171670"
-ANDROID_NDK_VERSION=22
-
 echo "This script is intended to run in a CI environment and may modify your current environment."
 echo "Please refer to BUILDING.md for more information."
 
@@ -47,15 +44,12 @@ elif [[ "$LC_UNAME" == "darwin" ]]; then
 fi
 source `dirname $0`/../common/build-common.sh
 
-# Only update and install the NDK if necessary, as this can be slow
-ndk_side_by_side="${ANDROID_HOME}/ndk/"
-if [[ -d $ndk_side_by_side ]]; then
-    ndk_version=`ls ${ndk_side_by_side} | sort -V | tail -n 1 | cut -f 1 -d "."`
-    if [[ ${ndk_version} -lt ${ANDROID_NDK_VERSION} ]]; then
-        ${ANDROID_HOME}/tools/bin/sdkmanager "${NDK_VERSION}" > /dev/null
-    fi
-else
-    ${ANDROID_HOME}/tools/bin/sdkmanager "${NDK_VERSION}" > /dev/null
+# Unless explicitly specified, NDK version will be set to match exactly the required one
+FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION=${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION:-$(cat `dirname $0`/ndk.version)}
+
+# Install the required NDK version specifically (if not present)
+if [[ ! -d "${ANDROID_HOME}/ndk/$FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION" ]]; then
+    ${ANDROID_HOME}/tools/bin/sdkmanager "ndk;$FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION" > /dev/null
 fi
 
 # Only build 1 32 bit and 1 64 bit target during presubmit to cut down build times
@@ -66,4 +60,4 @@ if [[ "$TARGET" == "presubmit" ]]; then
 fi
 
 pushd `dirname $0`/../.. > /dev/null
-./build.sh -p android $ANDROID_ABIS -c $GENERATE_ARCHIVES $BUILD_DEBUG $BUILD_RELEASE
+FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION=${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION} ./build.sh -p android $ANDROID_ABIS -c $GENERATE_ARCHIVES $BUILD_DEBUG $BUILD_RELEASE
diff --git a/build/android/ndk.version b/build/android/ndk.version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..19e2b99124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/android/ndk.version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+22.1.7171670
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/toolchain-aarch64-linux-android.cmake b/build/toolchain-aarch64-linux-android.cmake
index 8bd8800ff1..272e9e1793 100644
--- a/build/toolchain-aarch64-linux-android.cmake
+++ b/build/toolchain-aarch64-linux-android.cmake
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ set(DIST_ARCH arm64-v8a)
 string(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME} HOST_NAME_L)
 file(TO_CMAKE_PATH $ENV{ANDROID_HOME} ANDROID_HOME_UNIX)
 
-file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/*)
+if (NOT FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/android/ndk.version" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    string(REGEX MATCH "^\\d+" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION ${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION})
+endif()
+file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}*)
 list(SORT NDK_VERSIONS)
 list(GET NDK_VERSIONS -1 NDK_VERSION)
 get_filename_component(NDK_VERSION ${NDK_VERSION} NAME)
diff --git a/build/toolchain-arm7-linux-android.cmake b/build/toolchain-arm7-linux-android.cmake
index 8e2b9fbe6b..a704c401dc 100644
--- a/build/toolchain-arm7-linux-android.cmake
+++ b/build/toolchain-arm7-linux-android.cmake
@@ -32,7 +32,11 @@ set(DIST_ARCH armeabi-v7a)
 string(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME} HOST_NAME_L)
 file(TO_CMAKE_PATH $ENV{ANDROID_HOME} ANDROID_HOME_UNIX)
 
-file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/*)
+if (NOT FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/android/ndk.version" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    string(REGEX MATCH "^\\d+" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION ${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION})
+endif()
+file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}*)
 list(SORT NDK_VERSIONS)
 list(GET NDK_VERSIONS -1 NDK_VERSION)
 get_filename_component(NDK_VERSION ${NDK_VERSION} NAME)
diff --git a/build/toolchain-x86-linux-android.cmake b/build/toolchain-x86-linux-android.cmake
index 2ae7525939..41c1d3358e 100644
--- a/build/toolchain-x86-linux-android.cmake
+++ b/build/toolchain-x86-linux-android.cmake
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ set(DIST_ARCH x86)
 string(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME} HOST_NAME_L)
 file(TO_CMAKE_PATH $ENV{ANDROID_HOME} ANDROID_HOME_UNIX)
 
-file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/*)
+if (NOT FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/android/ndk.version" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    string(REGEX MATCH "^\\d+" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION ${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION})
+endif()
+file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}*)
 list(SORT NDK_VERSIONS)
 list(GET NDK_VERSIONS -1 NDK_VERSION)
 get_filename_component(NDK_VERSION ${NDK_VERSION} NAME)
diff --git a/build/toolchain-x86_64-linux-android.cmake b/build/toolchain-x86_64-linux-android.cmake
index 46aa3dc4f8..4b80751437 100644
--- a/build/toolchain-x86_64-linux-android.cmake
+++ b/build/toolchain-x86_64-linux-android.cmake
@@ -31,7 +31,11 @@ set(DIST_ARCH x86_64)
 string(TOLOWER ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME} HOST_NAME_L)
 file(TO_CMAKE_PATH $ENV{ANDROID_HOME} ANDROID_HOME_UNIX)
 
-file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/*)
+if (NOT FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/android/ndk.version" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION)
+    string(REGEX MATCH "^\\d+" FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION ${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION})
+endif()
+file(GLOB NDK_VERSIONS LIST_DIRECTORIES true ${ANDROID_HOME_UNIX}/ndk/${FILAMENT_NDK_VERSION}*)
 list(SORT NDK_VERSIONS)
 list(GET NDK_VERSIONS -1 NDK_VERSION)
 get_filename_component(NDK_VERSION ${NDK_VERSION} NAME)