diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 01e32ac4..94154c67 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ subprojects {
                 bytebuddy             : "1.12.10",
                 guava                 : "30.1-jre",
                 appopticsCore         : "7.8.4",
-                agent                 : "0.15.4", // the custom distro agent version
+                agent                 : "0.15.4-alpha", // the custom distro agent version
                 autoservice           : "1.0.1",
         ]
         versions.appopticsMetrics = "${versions.appopticsCore}" // they share the same version now