diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index dee1bc726a..5a9c876a9a 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -34,7 +34,14 @@ plugins {
     id 'com.dorongold.task-tree' version '4.0.1'
     id 'org.nosphere.apache.rat' version '0.8.1'
     id 'distribution'
-    id 'com.github.spotbugs' version '6.4.8'        // 6.2.0+ requires JDK 11
+
+    // 6.2.0+ requires JDK 11
+    // this is the version of the Gradle plugin, it usually includes a
+    // different version of spotbugs itself
+    // Latest spotbugs: https://github.com/spotbugs/spotbugs
+    // Latest gradle plugin: https://plugins.gradle.org/plugin/com.github.spotbugs
+    id 'com.github.spotbugs' version '6.4.8'
+
     id 'de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis' version '3.10'
     id 'org.sonarqube' version '7.2.2.6593'
     id 'org.cyclonedx.bom' version '2.4.1'