diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 295dfb23ec..86643ed823 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     <maven-dependency-plugin.version>3.1.1</maven-dependency-plugin.version>
     <maven-antrun-plugin.version>1.8</maven-antrun-plugin.version>
     <maven-deploy-plugin.version>2.7</maven-deploy-plugin.version>
+    <maven-resources-plugin.version>3.3.1</maven-resources-plugin.version>
     <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.13.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
     <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source>
     <maven.compiler.target>11</maven.compiler.target>
@@ -156,6 +157,11 @@
             </execution>
           </executions>
         </plugin>
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+          <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
+          <version>${maven-resources-plugin.version}</version>
+        </plugin>
       </plugins>
     </pluginManagement>
 
diff --git a/sdk/pom.xml b/sdk/pom.xml
index df82510ae5..5e52cf871b 100644
--- a/sdk/pom.xml
+++ b/sdk/pom.xml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     <argLine>
       --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED
     </argLine>
+          
   </properties>
 
   <dependencies>
@@ -28,12 +29,6 @@
       <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-      <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
-      <version>3.3.1</version>
-      <type>maven-plugin</type>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.dapr</groupId>
       <artifactId>dapr-sdk-autogen</artifactId>
@@ -169,6 +164,10 @@
       </resource>
     </resources>
     <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
+      </plugin>
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/utils/Version.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/utils/Version.java
index e55e77f4a2..7b0ef2f49f 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/utils/Version.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/utils/Version.java
@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 public final class Version {
 
-  private static String sdkVersion = null;
+  private static volatile AtomicReference<String> sdkVersion = new AtomicReference<>();
 
   /**
    * Retrieves sdk version from resources.
@@ -27,20 +28,31 @@ public final class Version {
    * @return String version of sdk.
    */
   public static String getSdkVersion() {
+    var version = sdkVersion.get();
 
-    if (sdkVersion != null) {
-      return sdkVersion;
+    if ((version != null) && !version.isBlank()) {
+      return version;
     }
 
-    try (InputStream input = Version.class.getResourceAsStream("/sdk_version.properties");) {
+    try (InputStream input = Version.class.getResourceAsStream("/sdk_version.properties")) {
       Properties properties = new Properties();
       properties.load(input);
-      sdkVersion = "dapr-sdk-java/v" + properties.getProperty("sdk_version", "unknown");
+      var v = properties.getProperty("sdk_version", null);
+      if (v == null) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("Did not find sdk_version property!");
+      }
+
+      if (v.isBlank()) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("Property sdk_version cannot be blank.");
+      }
+
+      version = "dapr-sdk-java/v" + v;
+      sdkVersion.set(version);
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      sdkVersion = "unknown";
+      throw new IllegalStateException("Could not load sdk_version property!", e);
     }
 
-    return sdkVersion;
+    return version;
   }
 
 }