diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 025669fdb324ff..49c0c6603f4051 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -611,11 +611,11 @@ jobs:
         default: false
     environment:
       - ANDROID_HOME: "C:\\Android\\android-sdk"
-      - ANDROID_NDK: "C:\\Android\\android-sdk\\ndk\\19.2.5345600"
+      - ANDROID_NDK: "C:\\Android\\android-sdk\\ndk\\20.1.5948944"
       - ANDROID_BUILD_VERSION: 28
       - ANDROID_TOOLS_VERSION: 29.0.3
       - GRADLE_OPTS: -Dorg.gradle.daemon=false
-      - NDK_VERSION: 19.2.5345600
+      - NDK_VERSION: 20.1.5948944
     steps:
       - checkout
 
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/build.gradle b/ReactAndroid/build.gradle
index 3b3f973ade27a0..1ed98bed6eb40b 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/build.gradle
+++ b/ReactAndroid/build.gradle
@@ -242,26 +242,28 @@ def getNdkBuildName() {
 }
 
 def findNdkBuildFullPath() {
+    // android.ndkDirectory should return project.android.ndkVersion ndkDirectory
+    def ndkDir = android.ndkDirectory ? android.ndkDirectory.absolutePath : null
+    if (ndkDir) {
+        return new File(ndkDir, getNdkBuildName()).getAbsolutePath()
+    }
+
     // we allow to provide full path to ndk-build tool
     if (hasProperty("ndk.command")) {
         return property("ndk.command")
     }
     // or just a path to the containing directory
     if (hasProperty("ndk.path")) {
-        def ndkDir = property("ndk.path")
+        ndkDir = property("ndk.path")
         return new File(ndkDir, getNdkBuildName()).getAbsolutePath()
     }
 
+    // @TODO ANDROID_NDK && ndk.dir is deprecated and will be removed in the future.
     if (System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK") != null) {
-        def ndkDir = System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK")
+        ndkDir = System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK")
         return new File(ndkDir, getNdkBuildName()).getAbsolutePath()
     }
 
-    def ndkDir = android.ndkDirectory ? android.ndkDirectory.absolutePath : null
-
-    if (ndkDir) {
-        return new File(ndkDir, getNdkBuildName()).getAbsolutePath()
-    }
     return null
 }
 
@@ -377,7 +379,7 @@ task extractJNIFiles {
 
 android {
     compileSdkVersion 29
-
+    ndkVersion ANDROID_NDK_VERSION
     compileOptions {
         sourceCompatibility(JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8)
         targetCompatibility(JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8)
diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 4d2c53b0189eb3..532c996c131dc4 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -34,4 +34,9 @@ allprojects {
         google()
         jcenter()
     }
+
+    // used to override ndk path on CI
+    if (System.getenv("LOCAL_ANDROID_NDK_VERSION") != null) {
+      setProperty("ANDROID_NDK_VERSION", System.getenv("LOCAL_ANDROID_NDK_VERSION"))
+    }
 }
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index f0a3fdf5d79fed..dd6698ad75bd27 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@
 org.gradle.daemon=true
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4g -XX:MaxPermSize=2048m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8
 org.gradle.parallel=true
+
+ANDROID_NDK_VERSION=20.1.5948944
diff --git a/packages/rn-tester/android/app/build.gradle b/packages/rn-tester/android/app/build.gradle
index 8855fff3fd2b9c..59a2e64275a35c 100644
--- a/packages/rn-tester/android/app/build.gradle
+++ b/packages/rn-tester/android/app/build.gradle
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def useIntlJsc = false
 
 android {
     compileSdkVersion 29
-
+    ndkVersion ANDROID_NDK_VERSION
     compileOptions {
         sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
         targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8