diff --git a/.changeset/nasty-goats-care.md b/.changeset/nasty-goats-care.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..508b75d49f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/nasty-goats-care.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/core": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Correctly detect the active Node.js version during headless installation [#7801](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/pull/7801).
diff --git a/config/package-is-installable/src/index.ts b/config/package-is-installable/src/index.ts
index 7b97ff17de..7ceb994ff9 100644
--- a/config/package-is-installable/src/index.ts
+++ b/config/package-is-installable/src/index.ts
@@ -90,4 +90,4 @@ export function checkPackage (
         pnpm: options.pnpmVersion,
       })
   )
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/lockfile/filter-lockfile/src/filterLockfileByImportersAndEngine.ts b/lockfile/filter-lockfile/src/filterLockfileByImportersAndEngine.ts
index 64e772876c..9f9d664c40 100644
--- a/lockfile/filter-lockfile/src/filterLockfileByImportersAndEngine.ts
+++ b/lockfile/filter-lockfile/src/filterLockfileByImportersAndEngine.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export function filterLockfileByEngine (
 
 export interface FilterLockfileOptions {
   currentEngine: {
-    nodeVersion: string
+    nodeVersion?: string
     pnpmVersion: string
   }
   engineStrict: boolean
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function pickPkgsWithAllDeps (
   importerIdSet: Set<string>,
   opts: {
     currentEngine: {
-      nodeVersion: string
+      nodeVersion?: string
       pnpmVersion: string
     }
     engineStrict: boolean
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ function pkgAllDeps (
   parentIsInstallable: boolean,
   opts: {
     currentEngine: {
-      nodeVersion: string
+      nodeVersion?: string
       pnpmVersion: string
     }
     engineStrict: boolean
diff --git a/pkg-manager/core/src/install/extendInstallOptions.ts b/pkg-manager/core/src/install/extendInstallOptions.ts
index 104e5c2e23..ec1cc72fe7 100644
--- a/pkg-manager/core/src/install/extendInstallOptions.ts
+++ b/pkg-manager/core/src/install/extendInstallOptions.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export interface StrictInstallOptions {
   onlyBuiltDependenciesFile?: string
   nodeExecPath?: string
   nodeLinker: 'isolated' | 'hoisted' | 'pnp'
-  nodeVersion: string
+  nodeVersion?: string
   packageExtensions: Record<string, PackageExtension>
   ignoredOptionalDependencies: string[]
   pnpmfile: string
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ const defaults = (opts: InstallOptions) => {
     },
     lockfileDir: opts.lockfileDir ?? opts.dir ?? process.cwd(),
     lockfileOnly: false,
-    nodeVersion: process.version,
+    nodeVersion: opts.nodeVersion,
     nodeLinker: 'isolated',
     overrides: {},
     ownLifecycleHooksStdio: 'inherit',
diff --git a/pkg-manager/headless/src/index.ts b/pkg-manager/headless/src/index.ts
index 71fca2074b..dc03322abd 100644
--- a/pkg-manager/headless/src/index.ts
+++ b/pkg-manager/headless/src/index.ts
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ export interface HeadlessOptions {
   childConcurrency?: number
   currentLockfile?: Lockfile
   currentEngine: {
-    nodeVersion: string
+    nodeVersion?: string
     pnpmVersion: string
   }
   dedupeDirectDeps?: boolean
diff --git a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencies.ts b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencies.ts
index 0fe732bf95..2faa6d497e 100644
--- a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencies.ts
+++ b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencies.ts
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ export interface ResolutionContext {
   preferWorkspacePackages?: boolean
   readPackageHook?: ReadPackageHook
   engineStrict: boolean
-  nodeVersion: string
+  nodeVersion?: string
   pnpmVersion: string
   registries: Registries
   resolutionMode?: 'highest' | 'time-based' | 'lowest-direct'
diff --git a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencyTree.ts b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencyTree.ts
index 0b89581d17..789108e9d0 100644
--- a/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencyTree.ts
+++ b/pkg-manager/resolve-dependencies/src/resolveDependencyTree.ts
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ export interface ResolveDependenciesOptions {
   hooks: {
     readPackage?: ReadPackageHook
   }
-  nodeVersion: string
+  nodeVersion?: string
   registries: Registries
   patchedDependencies?: Record<string, PatchFile>
   pnpmVersion: string