diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
index d297ceb14..0c27e31e4 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/scripts/pydata-sphinx-theme.js
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ if (themeSwitchBtns.length) {
           "list-group-item list-group-item-action py-1"
         );
         node.setAttribute("href", `${entry.url}${currentFilePath}`);
+        node.setAttribute("role", "option");
         node.appendChild(span);
 
         // on click, AJAX calls will check if the linked page exists before
@@ -345,21 +346,25 @@ if (themeSwitchBtns.length) {
         node.dataset["versionName"] = entry.name;
         node.dataset["version"] = entry.version;
 
-        document.querySelector(".version-switcher__menu").append(node);
         // replace dropdown button text with the preferred display name of
         // this version, rather than using sphinx's {{ version }} variable.
         // also highlight the dropdown entry for the currently-viewed
         // version's entry
         if (
-          entry.version ==
-          "DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS.version_switcher_version_match"
+          entry.version == DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS.theme_switcher_version_match
         ) {
           node.classList.add("active");
           themeSwitchBtns.forEach((btn) => {
-            btn.innerText = btn.dataset["activeVersionName"] = entry.name;
+            btn.innerText = entry.name;
+            btn.dataset["activeVersionName"] = entry.name;
             btn.dataset["activeVersion"] = entry.version;
           });
         }
+
+        const menus = document.querySelectorAll(".version-switcher__menu");
+        for (let m of menus) {
+          m.append(node.cloneNode(true));
+        }
       });
     });
 }
diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/version-switcher.html b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/version-switcher.html
index 0085d070a..48f86a978 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/version-switcher.html
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/theme/pydata_sphinx_theme/components/version-switcher.html
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@
 <script>
 document.write(`
   <div class="version-switcher__container dropdown">
-    <button type="button" class="version-switcher__button btn btn-sm navbar-btn dropdown-toggle" data-bs-toggle="dropdown">
+    <button id="versionswitcherbutton" type="button" class="version-switcher__button btn btn-sm navbar-btn dropdown-toggle" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="listbox" aria-controls="versionswitcherlist" aria-label="Version switcher list">
       {{ theme_switcher.get('version_match') }}  <!-- this text may get changed later by javascript -->
       <span class="caret"></span>
     </button>
-    <div class="version-switcher__menu dropdown-menu list-group-flush py-0">
+    <div id="versionswitcherlist" class="version-switcher__menu dropdown-menu list-group-flush py-0" role="listbox" tabindex=-1>
     <!-- dropdown will be populated by javascript on page load -->
     </div>
   </div>
diff --git a/tests/test_a11y.py b/tests/test_a11y.py
index e4a6821a0..da8a8540a 100644
--- a/tests/test_a11y.py
+++ b/tests/test_a11y.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 # Using importorskip to ensure these tests are only loaded if Playwright is installed.
 playwright = pytest.importorskip("playwright")
-from playwright.sync_api import Page  # noqa: E402
+from playwright.sync_api import Page, expect  # noqa: E402
 
 # Important note: automated accessibility scans can only find a fraction of
 # potential accessibility issues.
@@ -112,3 +112,18 @@ def test_axe_core_kitchen_sink(
 
     # Expect Axe-core to have found 0 accessibility violations
     assert len(results["violations"]) == 0, pretty_axe_results(results)
+
+
+def test_version_switcher_highlighting(page: Page, url_base: str) -> None:
+    """This isn't an a11y test, but needs a served site for Javascript to inject the version menu."""
+    page.goto(url=url_base)
+    button = page.get_by_role("button", name="dev")
+    active_version_name = button.get_attribute("data-active-version-name")
+    entries = page.get_by_role("menuitem", include_hidden=True).filter(
+        has_text=active_version_name
+    )
+    assert (
+        entries.count() == 2
+    )  # sidebar menu and topbar menu each have a matching entry
+    for entry in entries.all():
+        expect(entry).to_have_css("color", "rgb(69, 157, 185)")
diff --git a/tests/test_build.py b/tests/test_build.py
index d49a3d0e1..401e0ab83 100644
--- a/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -646,12 +646,14 @@ def test_show_nav_level(sphinx_build_factory) -> None:
         assert "checked" in checkbox.attrs
 
 
+# the switcher files tested in test_version_switcher_error_states, not all of them exist
 switcher_files = ["switcher.json", "http://a.b/switcher.json", "missing_url.json"]
-"the switcher files tested in test_version_switcher, not all of them exist"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("url", switcher_files)
-def test_version_switcher(sphinx_build_factory, file_regression, url) -> None:
+def test_version_switcher_error_states(
+    sphinx_build_factory, file_regression, url
+) -> None:
     """Regression test the version switcher dropdown HTML.
 
     Note that a lot of the switcher HTML gets populated by JavaScript,
diff --git a/tests/test_build/navbar_switcher.html b/tests/test_build/navbar_switcher.html
index ae125a111..ecedf7825 100644
--- a/tests/test_build/navbar_switcher.html
+++ b/tests/test_build/navbar_switcher.html
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 <script>
  document.write(`
   <div class="version-switcher__container dropdown">
-    <button type="button" class="version-switcher__button btn btn-sm navbar-btn dropdown-toggle" data-bs-toggle="dropdown">
+    <button id="versionswitcherbutton" type="button" class="version-switcher__button btn btn-sm navbar-btn dropdown-toggle" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="listbox" aria-controls="versionswitcherlist" aria-label="Version switcher list">
       0.7.1  <!-- this text may get changed later by javascript -->
       <span class="caret"></span>
     </button>
-    <div class="version-switcher__menu dropdown-menu list-group-flush py-0">
+    <div id="versionswitcherlist" class="version-switcher__menu dropdown-menu list-group-flush py-0" role="listbox" tabindex=-1>
     <!-- dropdown will be populated by javascript on page load -->
     </div>
   </div>