diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1f93dfc..6ac3712 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@
 build
 
 .idea
+.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/CHANGELOG.md b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
index 84d79bb..7d4ebf2 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -54,4 +54,4 @@
 ## [0.9.9]
 
 - Fix bug introduced in 0.9.8 preventing startup. Docker laying improvements not yet working, so
-  currently equivalent to 0.9.4
\ No newline at end of file
+  currently equivalent to 0.9.4
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/README.md b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/README.md
index 02095ca..8431066 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/README.md
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ default behavior of `com.bmuschko.docker-java-application` for identifying main
 An application can define multiple variants which allow specifying different base images to use.
 
 - `javaVersion`
-    - JavaVersion 
+    - JavaVersion
+    - Defaults to the toolchain version from the java plugin
 - `baseImage`
     - String
     - Defaults to hypertrace/java:JavaMajorVersion
@@ -121,4 +122,4 @@ Produces a diff of:
 +HEALTHCHECK -interval=2s --start-period=15s --timeout=2s CMD wget -qO- http://127.0.0.1:9003/health &> /dev/null || exit 1
 -ENV SERVICE_NAME=example-app
 +ENV SERVICE_NAME=example-app MY_VAR=foo
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index cc00aca..1c7c660 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 java {
-  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
+  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
 }
 
 gradlePlugin {
@@ -21,4 +21,3 @@ dependencies {
   api("com.bmuschko:gradle-docker-plugin:7.4.0")
   api(project(":hypertrace-gradle-docker-plugin"))
 }
-
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/gradle/docker/HypertraceDockerJavaApplicationPlugin.java b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/gradle/docker/HypertraceDockerJavaApplicationPlugin.java
index a7bb7eb..ac0804a 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/gradle/docker/HypertraceDockerJavaApplicationPlugin.java
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-java-application-plugin/src/main/java/org/hypertrace/gradle/docker/HypertraceDockerJavaApplicationPlugin.java
@@ -63,9 +63,14 @@ public void apply(Project target) {
   }
 
   private void addApplicationExtension(Project project) {
-    this.getHypertraceDockerExtension(project)
-        .getExtensions()
-        .create(EXTENSION_NAME, HypertraceDockerJavaApplication.class, project.getName());
+    HypertraceDockerJavaApplication extension =
+        this.getHypertraceDockerExtension(project)
+            .getExtensions()
+            .create(EXTENSION_NAME, HypertraceDockerJavaApplication.class, project.getName());
+
+    extension.javaVersion.convention(
+        getJavaExtension(project).getToolchain().getLanguageVersion().map(JavaVersion::toVersion)
+            .orElse(JavaVersion.VERSION_11));
   }
 
   private void updateDefaultJvmArgs(Project project, HypertraceDockerJavaApplication javaApplication) {
@@ -233,11 +238,14 @@ private Configuration getRuntimeClasspath(Project project) {
   }
 
   private SourceSetOutput mainSourceSetOutput(Project project) {
-    return project.getExtensions()
-                  .getByType(JavaPluginExtension.class)
-                  .getSourceSets()
-                  .getByName(SourceSet.MAIN_SOURCE_SET_NAME)
-                  .getOutput();
+    return getJavaExtension(project)
+        .getSourceSets()
+        .getByName(SourceSet.MAIN_SOURCE_SET_NAME)
+        .getOutput();
+  }
+
+  private JavaPluginExtension getJavaExtension(Project project) {
+    return project.getExtensions().getByType(JavaPluginExtension.class);
   }
 
   private Provider<File> provideIfDirectoryExists(Provider<Directory> directoryProvider) {
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index a8b76b0..cdd584e 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 java {
-  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
+  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
 }
 
 gradlePlugin {
diff --git a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-publish-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-publish-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index 6123c71..29cceea 100644
--- a/hypertrace-gradle-docker-publish-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/hypertrace-gradle-docker-publish-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 java {
-  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
+  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
 }
 
 gradlePlugin {