diff --git a/framework/build.gradle b/framework/build.gradle
index 3fa224a685..8ee8ca0909 100644
--- a/framework/build.gradle
+++ b/framework/build.gradle
@@ -16,10 +16,6 @@
    under the License.
 */
 
-ext {
-    apply from: 'cordova.gradle'
-}
-
 buildscript {
     apply from: 'cordova.gradle'
     apply from: 'repositories.gradle'
@@ -38,7 +34,6 @@ allprojects {
 }
 
 apply plugin: 'com.android.library'
-apply plugin: 'maven-publish'
 
 android {
     compileSdkVersion cordovaConfig.SDK_VERSION
@@ -74,59 +69,17 @@ android {
     }
 }
 
-task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
-    from android.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs
-    classifier = 'sources'
-}
-
-publishing {
-    publications {
-        Cordova(MavenPublication) {
-            groupId = 'org.apache.cordova'
-            artifactId = 'framework'
-            version = '10.0.0-dev'
-
-            artifact(sourcesJar)
-            artifact("$buildDir/outputs/aar/framework-release.aar")
-
-            pom {
-                name = 'Cordova'
-                description = 'A library to build Cordova-based projects for the Android platform.'
-                url = 'https://cordova.apache.org'
-
-                licenses {
-                    license {
-                        name = 'Apache License, Version 2.0'
-                        url = 'https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt'
-                    }
-                }
-
-                developers {
-                    developer {
-                        id = 'stevengill'
-                        name = 'Steve Gill'
-                    }
-                    developer {
-                        id = 'erisu'
-                        name = 'Bryan Ellis'
-                        email = 'erisu@apache.org'
-                    }
-                }
-
-                scm {
-                    connection = 'scm:git:https://github.com/apache/cordova-android.git'
-                    developerConnection = 'scm:git:git@github.com:apache/cordova-android.git'
-                    url = 'https://github.com/apache/cordova-android'
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 dependencies {
     implementation "androidx.appcompat:appcompat:${cordovaConfig.ANDROIDX_APP_COMPAT_VERSION}"
+    implementation "androidx.webkit:webkit:${cordovaConfig.ANDROIDX_WEBKIT_VERSION}"
 }
 
-dependencies {
-    implementation 'androidx.webkit:webkit:1.3.0'
+/**
+ * In a project created though CLI, the `cordova-publish.gradle` file is not copied to the `framework` dir.
+ * App development (CLI) projects can not and should not publish our framework.
+ * In this case, there is no need for the gradle build process to know about the publish process.
+ */
+def cordovaPublishGradle = './cordova-publish.gradle'
+if(file(cordovaPublishGradle).exists()) {
+    apply from: cordovaPublishGradle
 }
diff --git a/framework/cdv-gradle-config-defaults.json b/framework/cdv-gradle-config-defaults.json
index daf912a490..25f9aa903c 100644
--- a/framework/cdv-gradle-config-defaults.json
+++ b/framework/cdv-gradle-config-defaults.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "AGP_VERSION": "4.2.1",
     "KOTLIN_VERSION": "1.4.32",
     "ANDROIDX_APP_COMPAT_VERSION": "1.2.0",
+    "ANDROIDX_WEBKIT_VERSION": "1.3.0",
     "GRADLE_PLUGIN_GOOGLE_SERVICES_VERSION": "4.3.5",
     "IS_GRADLE_PLUGIN_GOOGLE_SERVICES_ENABLED": false,
     "IS_GRADLE_PLUGIN_KOTLIN_ENABLED": false
diff --git a/framework/cordova-publish.gradle b/framework/cordova-publish.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9526ea300c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/framework/cordova-publish.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+       Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+       or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+       distributed with this work for additional information
+       regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+       to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+       "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+       with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+       Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+       software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+       "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+       KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+       specific language governing permissions and limitations
+       under the License.
+*/
+
+apply plugin: 'maven-publish'
+
+String getCordovaAndroidVersion() {
+   // Fetch Data from Cordova-Android package.json (Used only by framework build/publishing)
+    def cordovaAndroidRepoPackageJson = "$projectDir/../package.json"
+    if(file(cordovaAndroidRepoPackageJson).exists()) {
+        def packageJsonFile = new File(cordovaAndroidRepoPackageJson)
+        def packageJson = new groovy.json.JsonSlurper().parseText(packageJsonFile.text)
+        return packageJson.version
+    }
+}
+
+task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
+    from android.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs
+    classifier = 'sources'
+}
+
+publishing {
+    publications {
+        Cordova(MavenPublication) {
+            groupId = 'org.apache.cordova'
+            artifactId = 'framework'
+            version = getCordovaAndroidVersion()
+
+            artifact(sourcesJar)
+            artifact("$buildDir/outputs/aar/framework-release.aar")
+
+            pom {
+                name = 'Cordova'
+                description = 'A library to build Cordova-based projects for the Android platform.'
+                url = 'https://cordova.apache.org'
+
+                licenses {
+                    license {
+                        name = 'Apache License, Version 2.0'
+                        url = 'https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt'
+                    }
+                }
+
+                developers {
+                    developer {
+                        id = 'stevengill'
+                        name = 'Steve Gill'
+                    }
+                    developer {
+                        id = 'erisu'
+                        name = 'Bryan Ellis'
+                        email = 'erisu@apache.org'
+                    }
+                }
+
+                scm {
+                    connection = 'scm:git:https://github.com/apache/cordova-android.git'
+                    developerConnection = 'scm:git:git@github.com:apache/cordova-android.git'
+                    url = 'https://github.com/apache/cordova-android'
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}