diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-sentry/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-sentry/action.yml
index 715f4c13c538d9..350edb43c6706d 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-sentry/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-sentry/action.yml
@@ -158,12 +158,16 @@ runs:
 
         # TODO: Use devservices kafka. See https://github.com/getsentry/sentry/pull/20986#issuecomment-704510570
         if [ "$NEED_KAFKA" = "true" ]; then
+          # This is *not* the production version. Unclear reason as to why this was chosen
+          # https://github.com/getsentry/ops/blob/c823e62f930ecc6c97bb08898c71e49edc7232f6/cookbooks/getsentry/attributes/default.rb#L631
           docker run \
             --name sentry_zookeeper \
             -d --network host \
             -e ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT=2181 \
             confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:4.1.0
 
+          # This is the production version; do not change w/o changing it there as well
+          # https://github.com/getsentry/ops/blob/c823e62f930ecc6c97bb08898c71e49edc7232f6/cookbooks/getsentry/attributes/default.rb#L643
           docker run \
             --name sentry_kafka \
             -d --network host \
diff --git a/src/sentry/conf/server.py b/src/sentry/conf/server.py
index d0319e11068007..84ea8bd6f2727f 100644
--- a/src/sentry/conf/server.py
+++ b/src/sentry/conf/server.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import sys
 import tempfile
 from datetime import timedelta
+from platform import platform as pf
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 from django.conf.global_settings import *  # NOQA
@@ -1697,6 +1698,8 @@ def build_cdc_postgres_init_db_volume(settings):
     )
 
 
+APPLE_ARM64 = pf().startswith("mac") and pf().endswith("arm64-arm-64bit")
+
 SENTRY_DEVSERVICES = {
     "redis": lambda settings, options: (
         {
@@ -1749,7 +1752,11 @@ def build_cdc_postgres_init_db_volume(settings):
     ),
     "zookeeper": lambda settings, options: (
         {
-            "image": "confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:5.1.2",
+            # On Apple arm64, we upgrade to version 6.x allows zookeeper to run properly on Apple's arm64
+            # See details https://github.com/confluentinc/kafka-images/issues/80#issuecomment-855511438
+            "image": "confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:6.2.0"
+            if APPLE_ARM64
+            else "confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:5.1.2",
             "environment": {"ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT": "2181"},
             "volumes": {"zookeeper": {"bind": "/var/lib/zookeeper"}},
             "only_if": "kafka" in settings.SENTRY_EVENTSTREAM or settings.SENTRY_USE_RELAY,
@@ -1757,7 +1764,10 @@ def build_cdc_postgres_init_db_volume(settings):
     ),
     "kafka": lambda settings, options: (
         {
-            "image": "confluentinc/cp-kafka:5.1.2",
+            # On Apple arm64, we upgrade to version 6.x to match zookeeper's version (I believe they both release together)
+            "image": "confluentinc/cp-kafka:6.2.0"
+            if APPLE_ARM64
+            else "confluentinc/cp-kafka:5.1.2",
             "ports": {"9092/tcp": 9092},
             "environment": {
                 "KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT": "{containers[zookeeper][name]}:2181",