diff --git a/main/User_config.h b/main/User_config.h
index 4a2af04..bdd7792 100644
--- a/main/User_config.h
+++ b/main/User_config.h
@@ -251,10 +251,12 @@
 #  ifndef MQTT_HTTPS_FW_UPDATE_USE_PASSWORD
 #    define MQTT_HTTPS_FW_UPDATE_USE_PASSWORD 1 // Set this to 0 if not using TLS connection to MQTT broker to prevent clear text passwords being sent.
 #  endif
-#  if DEVELOPMENTOTA
-#    define OTA_JSON_URL "https://ota.openmqttgateway.com/binaries/dev/latest_version_dev.json" //OTA url used to discover new versions of the firmware from development nightly builds
-#  else
-#    define OTA_JSON_URL "https://ota.openmqttgateway.com/binaries/latest_version.json" //OTA url used to discover new versions of the firmware
+#  ifndef OTA_JSON_URL // may be overridden by a build flag to use another OTA server
+#    if DEVELOPMENTOTA
+#      define OTA_JSON_URL "https://ota.openmqttgateway.com/binaries/dev/latest_version_dev.json" //OTA url used to discover new versions of the firmware from development nightly builds
+#    else
+#      define OTA_JSON_URL "https://ota.openmqttgateway.com/binaries/latest_version.json" //OTA url used to discover new versions of the firmware
+#    endif
 #  endif
 #  define ENTITY_PICTURE   "https://github.com/1technophile/OpenMQTTGateway/raw/development/docs/img/Openmqttgateway_logo_mini_margins.png"
 #  define RELEASE_LINK_DEV "https://ota.openmqttgateway.com/binaries/dev/"
diff --git a/main/main.cpp b/main/main.cpp
index b200f3c..e997dae 100644
--- a/main/main.cpp
+++ b/main/main.cpp
@@ -3224,12 +3224,29 @@ bool checkForUpdates() {
     jsondata["entity_picture"] = ENTITY_PICTURE;
     if (!jsondata.containsKey("release_summary"))
       jsondata["release_summary"] = "";
-    latestVersion = jsondata["latest_version"].as<String>();
+    // Per-environment version pinning: if the manifest carries an "envs" map with
+    // an entry for this build's ENV_NAME, that entry caps the version offered to
+    // this board; boards without an entry fall back to the global latest_version.
+    // This lets the OTA server hold e.g. theengs-plug at an older release while the
+    // rest of the fleet advances, with no board-specific firmware build flags.
+    // The "envs" map is expected to list only pinned exceptions so the manifest
+    // stays within JSON_MSG_BUFFER (1024 B on ESP32).
+    JsonVariant envVersion = jsondata["envs"][ENV_NAME];
+    if (!envVersion.isNull()) {
+      latestVersion = envVersion.as<String>();
+    } else {
+      latestVersion = jsondata["latest_version"].as<String>();
+    }
+    // Publish the resolved value as latest_version so the Home Assistant update
+    // entity compares against the (possibly pinned) version, and drop the map so
+    // it is not carried in the retained state topic.
+    jsondata["latest_version"] = latestVersion;
+    jsondata.remove("envs");
     jsondata["origin"] = subjectRLStoMQTT;
     jsondata["retain"] = true;
     enqueueJsonObject(jsondata);
 
-    THEENGS_LOG_TRACE(F("Update file found on server" CR));
+    THEENGS_LOG_TRACE(F("Update file found on server, offering version %s" CR), latestVersion.c_str());
     return true;
   } else {
     THEENGS_LOG_TRACE(F("No update file found on server" CR));