diff --git a/android/build.gradle b/android/build.gradle
index 0bebcee..6c60361 100644
--- a/android/build.gradle
+++ b/android/build.gradle
@@ -7,10 +7,40 @@ import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor
 import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes
 
 String getPackageJsonPath() {
-    return findProperty("APPSFLYER_PACKAGE_JSON") ?: "$rootDir/../node_modules/appsflyer-capacitor-plugin/package.json"
+    // If APPSFLYER_PACKAGE_JSON_PATH property is set by the developer, use it.
+    String envPath = findProperty("APPSFLYER_PACKAGE_JSON_PATH") as String
+    if (envPath) {
+        logger.lifecycle("package.json path from APPSFLYER_PACKAGE_JSON_PATH: $envPath")
+        return envPath
+    }
+
+    // Potential relative paths to the package.json.
+    def possiblePackageJsonPaths = [
+            "${projectDir.parentFile}/package.json",
+            "${buildDir.parentFile.parentFile}/package.json",
+            "${rootDir.parentFile}/node_modules/appsflyer-capacitor-plugin/package.json",
+    ]
+
+    // Loop through the possible paths and find the first one that exists
+    for (possiblePath in possiblePackageJsonPaths) {
+        File possibleFile = file(possiblePath)
+        if (possibleFile.exists()) {
+            logger.lifecycle("Found package.json at: ${possibleFile.absolutePath}")
+            return possibleFile.absolutePath
+        }
+    }
+
+    logger.lifecycle("Did not locate package.json in any of possiblePackageJsonPaths and APPSFLYER_PACKAGE_JSON_PATH is not specified.")
+    return null
 }
 
-def findNodeModulesDir(File currentDir) {
+/**
+ * Finds the node_modules directory by traversing up the directory hierarchy starting from the given directory.
+ *
+ * @param currentDir The directory from which to start the search.
+ * @return The discovered node_modules directory, or null if not found.
+ */
+static def findNodeModulesDir(File currentDir) {
     def dir = currentDir
     while (dir != null) {
         def nodeModulesDir = new File(dir, 'node_modules')
@@ -22,10 +52,20 @@ def findNodeModulesDir(File currentDir) {
     return null
 }
 
+/**
+ * Searches for a package.json file corresponding to the given package name within the node_modules directory.
+ *
+ * The search begins from the root project directory and recursively checks each node_modules folder found
+ * in parent directories up until the root of the file system hierarchy.
+ *
+ * @param packageName The name of the package for which to find package.json.
+ * @return The contents of the package.json as a Map, or null if not found.
+ */
 def findPackageJsonInDep(String packageName) {
+    // Start the search from the root project directory
     def nodeModulesDir = findNodeModulesDir(project.rootDir)
     if (nodeModulesDir == null) {
-        println "node_modules directory not found in any parent directories."
+        logger.lifecycle("node_modules directory not found in any parent directories.")
         return null
     }
 
@@ -34,68 +74,67 @@ def findPackageJsonInDep(String packageName) {
     def walker = new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
         @Override
         FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) {
+            // Looking specifically for the package.json of the target package
             if (file.toAbsolutePath().endsWith("appsflyer-capacitor-plugin/package.json")) {
                 try {
                     def content = new JsonSlurper().parseText(file.toFile().text)
                     if (content.name == packageName) {
-                        println "Found package.json: ${file.toAbsolutePath()}"
+                        logger.lifecycle("Found package.json at: ${file.toAbsolutePath()}")
                         json = content
                         return FileVisitResult.TERMINATE
                     }
                 } catch (Exception e) {
-                    println "Error parsing JSON in file: ${file.toAbsolutePath().toString()}\n${e.message}\n\t"
+                    logger.lifecycle("Error parsing JSON in file: ${file.toAbsolutePath().toString()}\n${e.message}\n\t")
                 }
             }
             return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
         }
     }
+    // Recursively walk through the file system starting from the node_modules directory
     while (json == null && nodeModulesDir != null) {
         Files.walkFileTree(nodeModulesDir.toPath(), walker)
-        // parentFile will give us exact same directory so we have to go 2 level upper
-        // and find another node_modules
+        // Search for another node_modules directory two levels up
         nodeModulesDir = findNodeModulesDir(nodeModulesDir.parentFile.parentFile)
     }
     return json
 }
 
 def getPackageJson() {
-    def packageJson
-    def inputFile = new File(getPackageJsonPath())
-    if (inputFile.exists()) {
-        println "found package.json from ENV variable"
-        packageJson = new JsonSlurper().parseText(inputFile.text)
+    // Use the safe navigation operator when working with possible null values
+    String packageJsonPath = getPackageJsonPath()
+    File inputFile = packageJsonPath ? new File(packageJsonPath) : null
+
+    // Attempt to load the package.json if the path is found and the file exists
+    if (inputFile?.exists()) {
+        try {
+            return new JsonSlurper().parseText(inputFile.getText('UTF-8'))
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.error("Failed to parse package.json at: ${inputFile.absolutePath}", e)
+        }
     } else {
-        println "could not found package.json from ENV variable"
-        println "searching for package.json recursively"
-        packageJson = findPackageJsonInDep("appsflyer-capacitor-plugin")
+        // package.json not found; search recursively
+        logger.lifecycle("Searching for package.json recursively in node_modules directories...")
+        def foundJson = findPackageJsonInDep("appsflyer-capacitor-plugin")
+        if (foundJson) {
+            return foundJson
+        }
     }
-    return packageJson
-}
-// Create an easy to use function
-def getVersionFromNpm() {
-    // Return the version, you can get any value this way
-    return getPackageJson()["version"]
-}
-
-// Create an easy to use function
-def getSDKVersionFromNpm() {
-    // Return the version, you can get any value this way
-    return getPackageJson()["androidSdkVersion"]
-}
-
-def getPluginBuildVersionFromNpm() {
-    // Return the version, you can get any value this way
-    return getPackageJson()["buildNumber"]
+    // If we got here the package.json was not loaded, log an error and return null
+    logger.error("The plugin package.json could not be loaded properly; appsflyer-capacitor-plugin may not function as expected.")
+    return null
 }
 
 ext {
+    // Initialize only once and reuse it for all subsequent calls
+    packageJson = getPackageJson()
+
     junitVersion = project.hasProperty('junitVersion') ? rootProject.ext.junitVersion : '4.13.2'
     androidxAppCompatVersion = project.hasProperty('androidxAppCompatVersion') ? rootProject.ext.androidxAppCompatVersion : '1.6.1'
     androidxJunitVersion = project.hasProperty('androidxJunitVersion') ? rootProject.ext.androidxJunitVersion : '1.1.5'
     androidxEspressoCoreVersion = project.hasProperty('androidxEspressoCoreVersion') ? rootProject.ext.androidxEspressoCoreVersion : '3.5.1'
-    af_sdk_version = getSDKVersionFromNpm()
-    plugin_version = getVersionFromNpm()
-    plugin_build_version = getPluginBuildVersionFromNpm()
+    af_sdk_version = packageJson?.androidSdkVersion
+    plugin_version = packageJson?.version
+    plugin_build_version = packageJson?.buildNumber
 }
 
 buildscript {