diff --git a/packages/core/src/carrier.ts b/packages/core/src/carrier.ts
index 5136121cb8ae..4ecd8838fec8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/carrier.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/carrier.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import type { AsyncContextStack } from './asyncContext/stackStrategy';
 import type { AsyncContextStrategy } from './asyncContext/types';
 import type { Scope } from './scope';
 import type { Logger } from './utils-hoist/logger';
-import { SDK_VERSION } from './utils-hoist/version';
 import { GLOBAL_OBJ } from './utils-hoist/worldwide';
 
 /**
@@ -17,6 +16,11 @@ type VersionedCarrier = {
   version?: string;
 } & Record<Exclude<string, 'version'>, SentryCarrier>;
 
+/**
+ * IMPORTANT - This must be updated if any breaking changes are made to the 'SentryCarrier' interface.
+ */
+export const CARRIER_VERSION = '9';
+
 export interface SentryCarrier {
   acs?: AsyncContextStrategy;
   stack?: AsyncContextStack;
@@ -34,10 +38,6 @@ export interface SentryCarrier {
 
 /**
  * Returns the global shim registry.
- *
- * FIXME: This function is problematic, because despite always returning a valid Carrier,
- * it has an optional `__SENTRY__` property, which then in turn requires us to always perform an unnecessary check
- * at the call-site. We always access the carrier through this function, so we can guarantee that `__SENTRY__` is there.
  **/
 export function getMainCarrier(): Carrier {
   // This ensures a Sentry carrier exists
@@ -50,11 +50,11 @@ export function getSentryCarrier(carrier: Carrier): SentryCarrier {
   const __SENTRY__ = (carrier.__SENTRY__ = carrier.__SENTRY__ || {});
 
   // For now: First SDK that sets the .version property wins
-  __SENTRY__.version = __SENTRY__.version || SDK_VERSION;
+  __SENTRY__.version = __SENTRY__.version || CARRIER_VERSION;
 
   // Intentionally populating and returning the version of "this" SDK instance
   // rather than what's set in .version so that "this" SDK always gets its carrier
-  return (__SENTRY__[SDK_VERSION] = __SENTRY__[SDK_VERSION] || {});
+  return (__SENTRY__[CARRIER_VERSION] = __SENTRY__[CARRIER_VERSION] || {});
 }
 
 /**
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ export function getGlobalSingleton<Prop extends keyof SentryCarrier>(
   obj = GLOBAL_OBJ,
 ): NonNullable<SentryCarrier[Prop]> {
   const __SENTRY__ = (obj.__SENTRY__ = obj.__SENTRY__ || {});
-  const carrier = (__SENTRY__[SDK_VERSION] = __SENTRY__[SDK_VERSION] || {});
+  const carrier = (__SENTRY__[CARRIER_VERSION] = __SENTRY__[CARRIER_VERSION] || {});
   // Note: We do not want to set `carrier.version` here, as this may be called before any `init` is called, e.g. for the default scopes
   return carrier[name] || (carrier[name] = creator());
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/test/lib/carrier.test.ts b/packages/core/test/lib/carrier.test.ts
index 19ebc8117ca4..f3fbacef37ed 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/lib/carrier.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/lib/carrier.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { getSentryCarrier } from '../../src/carrier';
-import { SDK_VERSION } from '../../src/utils-hoist/version';
+import { CARRIER_VERSION } from '../../src/carrier';
 
 describe('getSentryCarrier', () => {
   describe('base case (one SDK)', () => {
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ describe('getSentryCarrier', () => {
 
       expect(globalObject).toEqual({
         __SENTRY__: {
-          version: SDK_VERSION,
-          [SDK_VERSION]: {},
+          version: CARRIER_VERSION,
+          [CARRIER_VERSION]: {},
         },
       });
     });
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ describe('getSentryCarrier', () => {
     it('returns the existing sentry carrier object if it already exists', () => {
       const originalGlobalObject = {
         __SENTRY__: {
-          version: SDK_VERSION,
-          [SDK_VERSION]: {
+          version: CARRIER_VERSION,
+          [CARRIER_VERSION]: {
             acs: {},
           },
         },
@@ -42,13 +42,14 @@ describe('getSentryCarrier', () => {
   describe('multiple (older) SDKs', () => {
     it("returns the version of the sentry carrier object of the SDK's version rather than the one set in .version", () => {
       const sentryCarrier = getSentryCarrier({
-        // @ts-expect-error - this is just a test object
         __SENTRY__: {
           version: '8.0.0', // another SDK set this
           '8.0.0': {
+            // @ts-expect-error - this is just a test object
             stack: {},
           },
-          [SDK_VERSION]: {
+          [CARRIER_VERSION]: {
+            // @ts-expect-error - this is just a test object
             acs: {},
           },
           hub: {},
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ describe('getSentryCarrier', () => {
           '8.0.0': {
             acs: {},
           },
-          [SDK_VERSION]: {},
+          [CARRIER_VERSION]: {},
         },
       });
     });