diff --git a/roles/download/defaults/main.yml b/roles/download/defaults/main.yml
index 43d047cef..d69cc1c88 100644
--- a/roles/download/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/download/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1108,7 +1108,7 @@ haproxy_image_tag: 2.6.6-alpine
 # Coredns version should be supported by corefile-migration (or at least work with)
 # bundle with kubeadm; if not 'basic' upgrade can sometimes fail
 
-coredns_version: "v1.9.3"
+coredns_version: "{{ 'v1.9.3' if (kube_version is version('v1.25.0','>=')) else 'v1.8.6' }}"
 coredns_image_is_namespaced: "{{ (coredns_version is version('v1.7.1','>=')) }}"
 
 coredns_image_repo: "{{ kube_image_repo }}{{'/coredns/coredns' if (coredns_image_is_namespaced | bool) else '/coredns' }}"