diff --git a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/CHANGELOG.md b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/CHANGELOG.md
index 69b395018cf..532ebf558da 100644
--- a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ First release of the Foundry evaluations extension.
   declaration changes.
 - Atomic commands for every operation: `dataset`, `evaluator`, `run` and
   `run output` subcommands, all supporting `-o json` and `--no-prompt`.
+- `dataset --version` names the version to publish, on `create` and `update`
+  alike, and means the same thing as `version:` in the configuration.
 - Testing criteria are shaped from each evaluator's published contract, so
   evaluators requiring inputs beyond the agent shape — `ground_truth`,
   `context`, `instruction_id_list` — work by binding them to dataset columns.
diff --git a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/cmd/dataset.go b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/cmd/dataset.go
index c79f6cb2ff4..de0c8d03944 100644
--- a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/cmd/dataset.go
+++ b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/cmd/dataset.go
@@ -142,9 +142,21 @@ func newDatasetWriteCommand(verb, short string) *cobra.Command {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			ds, err := ec.datasetClient.UploadNextVersion(
-				ctx, name, version, localSource, ProjectEndpointAPIVersion,
-			)
+			// A declared version is the version to publish, never one to count
+			// from, so it is written exactly as given. Only an omitted version is
+			// derived, and only that path walks past a conflict: a version the
+			// author named and the service already holds is theirs to resolve,
+			// and stepping past it would publish one they did not ask for.
+			var ds *dataset_api.Dataset
+			if version != "" {
+				ds, err = ec.datasetClient.UploadVersion(
+					ctx, name, version, localSource, ProjectEndpointAPIVersion,
+				)
+			} else {
+				ds, err = ec.datasetClient.UploadNextVersion(
+					ctx, name, "", localSource, ProjectEndpointAPIVersion,
+				)
+			}
 			if err != nil {
 				return messages.RegisteringDataset(name, err)
 			}
@@ -170,14 +182,8 @@ func newDatasetWriteCommand(verb, short string) *cobra.Command {
 
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&fromFile, "from-file", "",
 		"Path to a .jsonl file, or a directory containing one.")
-	// Only on update. create publishes a first version, and the upload derives
-	// the next version from whatever this holds, so `create --version 4.0`
-	// would publish 5.0 -- and leave the existence probe, which looks for the
-	// versions a first publish can carry, unable to find what it wrote.
-	if verb == "update" {
-		cmd.Flags().StringVar(&version, "version", "",
-			"Current version to increment from. Omit to increment from the latest registered version.")
-	}
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&version, "version", "",
+		"Version to publish. Omit to publish the next version after the latest registered.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&endpointFlg, "project-endpoint", "", "Foundry project endpoint.")
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/pkg/dataset_api/upload_version_test.go b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/pkg/dataset_api/upload_version_test.go
index 164cc6d415b..e66ecb39457 100644
--- a/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/pkg/dataset_api/upload_version_test.go
+++ b/cli/azd/extensions/azure.ai.evaluations/internal/pkg/dataset_api/upload_version_test.go
@@ -103,6 +103,63 @@ func TestUploadNextVersionWalksPastAStaleListing(t *testing.T) {
 		"the version just refused is proof it exists, so the next one is tried")
 }
 
+// A declared version is the version published, not one to count from.
+//
+// `--version` used to reach the incrementing path, so `--version 7.0` published
+// 8.0 while `version: 7.0` in configuration published 7.0 -- one word, two
+// answers, decided by where it was written.
+func TestUploadVersionPublishesTheVersionDeclared(t *testing.T) {
+	server := &uploadServer{taken: map[string]bool{}, listing: []string{"1.0", "2.0"}}
+	httpServer := func() *httptest.Server {
+		var s *httptest.Server
+		s = httptest.NewServer(server.handler(t, func() string { return s.URL }))
+		return s
+	}()
+	t.Cleanup(httpServer.Close)
+
+	client := NewDatasetClientFromPipeline(
+		httpServer.URL, runtime.NewPipeline("test", "v1", runtime.PipelineOptions{}, nil))
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(
+		filepath.Join(dir, "rows.jsonl"), []byte("{\"query\":\"q\"}\n"), 0o600))
+
+	ds, err := client.UploadVersion(context.Background(), "ds", "7.0", dir, "2025-11-15-preview")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "7.0", ds.Version, "the version asked for is the version written")
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"7.0"}, server.attempts,
+		"a declared version is published as given, not counted from")
+}
+
+// A declared version the service already holds is refused rather than stepped
+// past.
+//
+// The conflict walk exists because the listing lags behind a publish, which
+// makes it right for a version the CLI derived. Applying it to one an author
+// named would publish a version they did not ask for, and report success.
+func TestUploadVersionDoesNotWalkPastAConflict(t *testing.T) {
+	server := &uploadServer{taken: map[string]bool{"7.0": true}, listing: []string{"7.0"}}
+	httpServer := func() *httptest.Server {
+		var s *httptest.Server
+		s = httptest.NewServer(server.handler(t, func() string { return s.URL }))
+		return s
+	}()
+	t.Cleanup(httpServer.Close)
+
+	client := NewDatasetClientFromPipeline(
+		httpServer.URL, runtime.NewPipeline("test", "v1", runtime.PipelineOptions{}, nil))
+
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(
+		filepath.Join(dir, "rows.jsonl"), []byte("{\"query\":\"q\"}\n"), 0o600))
+
+	_, err := client.UploadVersion(context.Background(), "ds", "7.0", dir, "2025-11-15-preview")
+	require.Error(t, err, "the version the author named is taken, and that is theirs to resolve")
+	assert.True(t, IsVersionConflict(err), "the refusal has to read as a conflict")
+	assert.Equal(t, []string{"7.0"}, server.attempts,
+		"nothing beyond the declared version is attempted")
+}
+
 // When the listing has caught up and is further ahead than the refused
 // version, it is the better answer: it skips versions somebody else published.
 func TestUploadNextVersionPrefersACaughtUpListing(t *testing.T) {