diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6a52435cd..416b0b988 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased (1.0.0)
+
+**Breaking / Important behavior changes**:
+
+- macOS/Linux: shared libraries now use ABI-versioned filenames, such as `libsentry.1.dylib` or `libsentry.so.1` for 1.x. Windows, Android, and static libraries remain unchanged. ([#2103](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/2103))
+  - NOTE: Applications must package the real versioned library and its symlinks, including `libsentry.1.dylib` or `libsentry.so.1`, because they link to and load the ABI-versioned name.
+
 ## Unreleased
 
 **Breaking / Important behavior changes**:
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3d3c63e05..11984db39 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -384,6 +384,27 @@ add_library(sentry ${SENTRY_LIBRARY_TYPE} "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/sentry_mpac
 if (XBOX)
 	set_target_properties(sentry PROPERTIES VS_USER_PROPS gdk_build.props)
 endif()
+
+set_target_properties(sentry PROPERTIES
+	VERSION "${SENTRY_VERSION_BASE}"
+	SOVERSION "${SENTRY_VERSION_MAJOR}")
+
+if(WIN32 AND SENTRY_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+	set(_SENTRY_IMAGE_VERSION "${SENTRY_VERSION_MAJOR}.${SENTRY_VERSION_MINOR}")
+	if(CMAKE_GENERATOR MATCHES "^Visual Studio " AND CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 4.1)
+		# VS generators before CMake 4.1 ignore VERSION for the PE image header.
+		target_link_options(sentry PRIVATE "/VERSION:${_SENTRY_IMAGE_VERSION}")
+	elseif(MINGW)
+		include(CheckLinkerFlag)
+		check_linker_flag(C "LINKER:/version:0.0" _SENTRY_LINKER_SUPPORTS_PE_VERSION)
+		if(_SENTRY_LINKER_SUPPORTS_PE_VERSION)
+			# lld silently ignores CMake's GNU image-version flags.
+			target_link_options(sentry PRIVATE "LINKER:/version:${_SENTRY_IMAGE_VERSION}")
+		endif()
+	endif()
+	unset(_SENTRY_IMAGE_VERSION)
+endif()
+
 target_sources(sentry PRIVATE "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/sentry.h")
 add_library(sentry::sentry ALIAS sentry)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d9c63cc17..833991479 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -119,12 +119,17 @@ install
 └── lib
    ├── cmake
    │  └── sentry
-   ├── libsentry.dylib
-   └── libsentry.dylib.dSYM
+   ├── libsentry.1.0.0.dylib
+   ├── libsentry.1.dylib -> libsentry.1.0.0.dylib
+   ├── libsentry.dylib -> libsentry.1.dylib
+   └── libsentry.1.0.0.dylib.dSYM
 ```
 
 Please refer to the CMake Manual for more details.
 
+Starting with 1.0.0, shared libraries on macOS and Linux use ABI-versioned
+runtime names such as `libsentry.1.dylib` or `libsentry.so.1`.
+
 **Android**:
 
 The CMake project can also be configured to correctly work with the Android NDK,
diff --git a/tests/test_build_static.py b/tests/test_build.py
similarity index 70%
rename from tests/test_build_static.py
rename to tests/test_build.py
index 950ed334f..c31a66a80 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_static.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -1,17 +1,71 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import os
+import struct
+
 import pytest
+
+from . import SENTRY_VERSION, lib_name
 from .conditions import (
     has_breakpad,
     has_crashpad,
     has_native,
+    is_aix,
     is_android,
     is_qemu,
     is_wine,
 )
 
 
+def _assert_symlink(path, target):
+    assert path.is_symlink()
+    assert os.readlink(path) == target
+
+
+def _assert_shared_version(directory):
+    major, minor, _ = SENTRY_VERSION.split(".")
+
+    if sys.platform == "darwin":
+        real_name = f"libsentry.{SENTRY_VERSION}.dylib"
+        abi_name = f"libsentry.{major}.dylib"
+        _assert_symlink(directory / "libsentry.dylib", abi_name)
+        _assert_symlink(directory / abi_name, real_name)
+        output = subprocess.check_output(
+            ["otool", "-L", directory / real_name], text=True
+        )
+        assert abi_name in output
+        assert f"compatibility version {major}.0.0" in output
+        assert f"current version {SENTRY_VERSION}" in output
+    elif sys.platform == "win32":
+        dll = directory / lib_name("sentry")
+        with dll.open("rb") as binary:
+            binary.seek(0x3C)
+            pe_offset = struct.unpack("<I", binary.read(4))[0]
+            binary.seek(pe_offset + 4 + 20 + 44)
+            assert struct.unpack("<HH", binary.read(4)) == (int(major), int(minor))
+    elif is_wine:
+        assert (directory / "libsentry.dll").is_file()
+    else:
+        real_name = f"libsentry.so.{SENTRY_VERSION}"
+        abi_name = f"libsentry.so.{major}"
+        _assert_symlink(directory / "libsentry.so", abi_name)
+        _assert_symlink(directory / abi_name, real_name)
+        output = subprocess.check_output(
+            ["readelf", "-d", directory / real_name], text=True
+        )
+        assert f"Library soname: [{abi_name}]" in output
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_android or is_aix, reason="test requires a desktop build")
+def test_shared_lib(cmake):
+    directory = cmake(
+        ["sentry"],
+        {"SENTRY_BACKEND": "none", "SENTRY_TRANSPORT": "none"},
+    )
+
+    _assert_shared_version(directory)
+
+
 def test_static_lib(cmake):
     tmp_path = cmake(
         ["sentry_example"],
diff --git a/tests/test_integration_crashpad.py b/tests/test_integration_crashpad.py
index a356bc377..822ed4acf 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration_crashpad.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration_crashpad.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     is_replay_envelope,
     lib_name,
     REPLAY_ID,
+    SENTRY_VERSION,
 )
 from .conditions import has_crashpad, has_files, has_oom
 from .proxy import (
@@ -160,7 +161,13 @@ def test_crashpad_codeview(cmake, httpserver):
         name.replace("\\", "/").rsplit("/", 1)[-1]: codeview
         for name, codeview in _minidump_modules(attachments.minidump)
     }
-    codeview = codeviews[lib_name("sentry")]
+    library = lib_name("sentry")
+    major = SENTRY_VERSION.split(".", 1)[0]
+    if sys.platform == "linux":
+        library = f"{library}.{major}"
+    elif sys.platform == "darwin":
+        library = library.replace(".dylib", f".{SENTRY_VERSION}.dylib")
+    codeview = codeviews[library]
     signature = codeview[:4]
     if sys.platform == "linux":
         assert signature == b"LEpB"
diff --git a/tests/test_integration_macos_sandbox.py b/tests/test_integration_macos_sandbox.py
index d678e905f..c36b710aa 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration_macos_sandbox.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration_macos_sandbox.py
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ def _create_sandbox_app_bundle(tmp_path, exe_name="sentry_example"):
     app_dir = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), "SentryTest.app")
     contents_dir = os.path.join(app_dir, "Contents")
     macos_dir = os.path.join(contents_dir, "MacOS")
-    os.makedirs(macos_dir, exist_ok=True)
+    if os.path.exists(app_dir):
+        shutil.rmtree(app_dir)
+    os.makedirs(macos_dir)
 
     # Copy executable and sentry-crash into the bundle
     src_exe = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), exe_name)
@@ -48,11 +50,13 @@ def _create_sandbox_app_bundle(tmp_path, exe_name="sentry_example"):
     if os.path.exists(src_daemon):
         shutil.copy2(src_daemon, dst_daemon)
 
-    # Copy libsentry.dylib if it exists (shared library build)
-    src_lib = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), "libsentry.dylib")
-    if os.path.exists(src_lib):
-        dst_lib = os.path.join(macos_dir, "libsentry.dylib")
-        shutil.copy2(src_lib, dst_lib)
+    # Copy the shared library and its versioned symlink chain into the bundle
+    for src_lib in tmp_path.glob("libsentry*.dylib"):
+        shutil.copy2(
+            src_lib,
+            os.path.join(macos_dir, src_lib.name),
+            follow_symlinks=False,
+        )
 
     # Write minimal Info.plist
     info_plist = {
@@ -97,6 +101,8 @@ def _codesign_bundle(app_dir, entitlements_path, exe_name="sentry_example"):
         if name == exe_name:
             continue  # Main exe gets signed with the bundle
         path = os.path.join(macos_dir, name)
+        if os.path.islink(path):
+            continue
         if os.access(path, os.X_OK) or name.endswith(".dylib"):
             subprocess.run(
                 ["codesign", "--force", "--sign", "-", path],
@@ -128,7 +134,7 @@ def _run_sandboxed(app_dir, exe_name, args, env, expect_failure=False):
     """
     exe_path = os.path.join(app_dir, "Contents", "MacOS", exe_name)
 
-    # Set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH so the executable can find libsentry.dylib
+    # Set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH so the executable can find the bundled dylib
     # inside the bundle (dyld respects this even in sandbox for ad-hoc signed)
     run_env = dict(env)
     run_env["DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH"] = os.path.join(app_dir, "Contents", "MacOS")