diff --git a/build.env b/build.env
index 1eea15f45..b4381833b 100644
--- a/build.env
+++ b/build.env
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 # shell scripts consume this file. Variables that reference variables may not
 # get proporly expanded.
 #
+# cephcsi image version
+CSI_IMAGE_VERSION=canary
 
 # Ceph version to use
 BASE_IMAGE=docker.io/ceph/ceph:v15