diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
index aa4bb4a864aedc3104379fe37536302cb89af09c..829ddbfe7e2ad8e7c724bffad9fb1014976ff61a 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ endif()
 
 if(INF_ENGINE_TARGET)
   if(NOT INF_ENGINE_RELEASE)
-    message(WARNING "InferenceEngine version has not been set, 2021.3 will be used by default. Set INF_ENGINE_RELEASE variable if you experience build errors.")
+    message(WARNING "InferenceEngine version has not been set, 2021.4 will be used by default. Set INF_ENGINE_RELEASE variable if you experience build errors.")
   endif()
-  set(INF_ENGINE_RELEASE "2021030000" CACHE STRING "Force IE version, should be in form YYYYAABBCC (e.g. 2020.1.0.2 -> 2020010002)")
+  set(INF_ENGINE_RELEASE "2021040000" CACHE STRING "Force IE version, should be in form YYYYAABBCC (e.g. 2020.1.0.2 -> 2020010002)")
   set_target_properties(${INF_ENGINE_TARGET} PROPERTIES
     INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "HAVE_INF_ENGINE=1;INF_ENGINE_RELEASE=${INF_ENGINE_RELEASE}"
   )
diff --git a/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp b/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
index 42008b0f10b880fcda466422df0b7d703514d76d..a825431627bda7189b70a2ab6b2a6cae7034fa6a 100644
--- a/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
+++ b/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_1 2021010000
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_2 2021020000
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_3 2021030000
+#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_4 2021040000
 
 #ifndef INF_ENGINE_RELEASE
-#warning("IE version have not been provided via command-line. Using 2021.3 by default")
-#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_3
+#warning("IE version have not been provided via command-line. Using 2021.4 by default")
+#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_4
 #endif
 
 #define INF_ENGINE_VER_MAJOR_GT(ver) (((INF_ENGINE_RELEASE) / 10000) > ((ver) / 10000))