diff --git a/tools/fuchsia/fuchsia_archive.gni b/tools/fuchsia/fuchsia_archive.gni
index f2dc3d648583a..aae9b8fefc725 100644
--- a/tools/fuchsia/fuchsia_archive.gni
+++ b/tools/fuchsia/fuchsia_archive.gni
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@ template("_fuchsia_archive") {
       rebase_path(manifest_json_file, root_build_dir),
     ]
 
+    assert(fuchsia_target_api_level != -1,
+           "Must set a target api level when creating an archive")
     if (fuchsia_target_api_level != -1) {
       args += [
         "--api-level",
diff --git a/tools/fuchsia/target_api_level b/tools/fuchsia/target_api_level
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7f8f011eb73d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/fuchsia/target_api_level
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+7
diff --git a/tools/gn b/tools/gn
index af169d388c84f..f4ed6e6e29bfd 100755
--- a/tools/gn
+++ b/tools/gn
@@ -406,6 +406,10 @@ def to_gn_args(args):
 
     if args.fuchsia_target_api_level is not None:
       gn_args['fuchsia_target_api_level'] = args.fuchsia_target_api_level
+    elif args.target_os == 'fuchsia':
+      # Read the default target api level from a file so we can update it with a roller
+      with open(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'fuchsia/target_api_level')) as f:
+        gn_args['fuchsia_target_api_level'] = int(f.read().strip())
 
     return gn_args