diff --git a/.changelog/_unreleased.toml b/.changelog/_unreleased.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..98cbb5c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/_unreleased.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[[entries]]
+id = "cef04ded-99dc-42c0-8a69-79915a368d74"
+type = "improvement"
+description = "Use UV as the default installer for Kraken build-time virtual environments"
+author = "@NiklasRosenstein"
diff --git a/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_buildenv_manager.py b/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_buildenv_manager.py
index 71c9530f..89f0e60a 100644
--- a/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_buildenv_manager.py
+++ b/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_buildenv_manager.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def __init__(
         project_root: Path,
         path: Path,
         auth: AuthModel,
-        default_type: EnvironmentType = EnvironmentType.VENV,
+        default_type: EnvironmentType = EnvironmentType.UV,
         default_hash_algorithm: str = "sha256",
         incremental: bool = False,
         show_install_logs: bool = False,
diff --git a/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_config.py b/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_config.py
index af964ab9..47c3edf6 100644
--- a/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_config.py
+++ b/kraken-wrapper/src/kraken/wrapper/_config.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def set_default_installer(self, env_type: EnvironmentType) -> None:
         logger.info("saving default_installer=%r in %s", env_type.name, self._path)
 
     def get_default_installer(self) -> EnvironmentType:
-        default = EnvironmentType.VENV
+        default = EnvironmentType.UV
         if value := self._config.get("default_installer"):
             try:
                 return EnvironmentType[value]