diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 034bbbe425663..23d0b539f32cf 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3306,6 +3306,13 @@
 
     <profile>
       <id>scala-2.12</id>
+      <properties>
+        <!-- 
+         SPARK-34774 Add this property to ensure change-scala-version.sh can replace the public `scala.version`
+         property correctly. 
+        -->
+        <scala.version>2.12.10</scala.version>
+      </properties>
       <build>
         <pluginManagement>
           <plugins>