diff --git a/drake_bazel_download/.bazeliskrc b/drake_bazel_download/.bazeliskrc
index 6a62267c..a5ed930f 100644
--- a/drake_bazel_download/.bazeliskrc
+++ b/drake_bazel_download/.bazeliskrc
@@ -1,3 +1 @@
-# Keep this version number in sync with the Ubuntu deb installed by
-# drake/setup/ubuntu/source_distribution/install_bazel.sh.
-USE_BAZEL_VERSION=7.0.2
+USE_BAZEL_VERSION=8.0.0rc1
diff --git a/drake_bazel_download/setup/install_prereqs b/drake_bazel_download/setup/install_prereqs
index ae499368..97b91c90 100755
--- a/drake_bazel_download/setup/install_prereqs
+++ b/drake_bazel_download/setup/install_prereqs
@@ -60,14 +60,6 @@ echo -e "\ndrake VERSION.TXT: $(cat /opt/drake/share/doc/drake/VERSION.TXT)\n"
 
 /opt/drake/share/drake/setup/install_prereqs
 
-apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnupg
-
-apt-key adv --fetch-keys https://bazel.build/bazel-release.pub.gpg
-echo 'deb [arch=amd64] https://storage.googleapis.com/bazel-apt stable jdk1.8' \
-  > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bazel.list
-
-apt-get update
-apt-get install --no-install-recommends $(cat <<EOF
-  bazel
-EOF
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+wget -O bazelisk.deb \
+  https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.22.1/bazelisk-amd64.deb
+dpkg -i bazelisk.deb
diff --git a/drake_bazel_external/.bazeliskrc b/drake_bazel_external/.bazeliskrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a5ed930f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/drake_bazel_external/.bazeliskrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+USE_BAZEL_VERSION=8.0.0rc1
diff --git a/drake_bazel_external/setup/install_prereqs b/drake_bazel_external/setup/install_prereqs
index 20ba6acc..55116651 100755
--- a/drake_bazel_external/setup/install_prereqs
+++ b/drake_bazel_external/setup/install_prereqs
@@ -74,15 +74,12 @@ echo -e "\ndrake VERSION.TXT: $(cat /opt/drake/share/doc/drake/VERSION.TXT)\n"
 
 /opt/drake/share/drake/setup/install_prereqs
 
-apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnupg
-
-apt-key adv --fetch-keys https://bazel.build/bazel-release.pub.gpg
-echo 'deb [arch=amd64] https://storage.googleapis.com/bazel-apt stable jdk1.8' \
-  > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bazel.list
+wget -O bazelisk.deb \
+  https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.22.1/bazelisk-amd64.deb
+dpkg -i bazelisk.deb
 
 apt-get update
 apt-get install --no-install-recommends $(cat <<EOF
-  bazel
   cmake
   default-jdk
   file
diff --git a/private/test/file_sync_test.py b/private/test/file_sync_test.py
index 3e386707..de2aa658 100755
--- a/private/test/file_sync_test.py
+++ b/private/test/file_sync_test.py
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@
         "drake_cmake_installed/LICENSE",
         "drake_cmake_installed_apt/LICENSE",
     ),
+    (
+        "drake_bazel_download/.bazeliskrc",
+        "drake_bazel_external/.bazeliskrc",
+    ),
     (
         "drake_bazel_external/.github/setup",
         "drake_cmake_external/.github/setup",