diff --git a/sdk-extensions/incubator/build.gradle.kts b/sdk-extensions/incubator/build.gradle.kts
index 59acac261ef..92be979672f 100644
--- a/sdk-extensions/incubator/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/sdk-extensions/incubator/build.gradle.kts
@@ -56,8 +56,11 @@ dependencies {
 // 7. deleteJs2pTmp - delete tmp directory
 // ... proceed with normal sourcesJar, compileJava, etc
 
-val configurationTag = "0.3.0"
-val configurationRef = "refs/tags/v$configurationTag" // Replace with commit SHA to point to experiment with a specific commit
+// TODO (trask) revert after the 0.4.0 release
+//  it was needed after 0.3.0 release because file_format in the examples weren't updated prior to the release tag
+// val configurationTag = "0.3.0"
+// val configurationRef = "refs/tags/v$configurationTag" // Replace with commit SHA to point to experiment with a specific commit
+val configurationRef = "cea3905ce0a542d573968c3c47d413143d473cf4"
 val configurationRepoZip = "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-configuration/archive/$configurationRef.zip"
 val buildDirectory = layout.buildDirectory.asFile.get()