diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 6c41c69..dcc6cf8 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -22,14 +22,18 @@ repositories {
     mavenCentral()
 }
 
+ext {
+    jacksonVersion  = '2.14.2'
+}
+
 dependencies {
     // JUnit setup for testing
     testImplementation(platform("org.junit:junit-bom:5.9.2"))
     testImplementation 'org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api'
     testRuntimeOnly 'org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine'
     // JSON object mapping / (de-)serialization
-    implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.14.1'
-    implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310:2.14.1'
+    implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:${jacksonVersion}"
+    implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310:${jacksonVersion}"
     // http client
     implementation group: 'org.apache.httpcomponents', name: 'httpclient', version: '4.5.14'
     // common file system operations