diff --git a/.changeset/fresh-candles-fail.md b/.changeset/fresh-candles-fail.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b82a48b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fresh-candles-fail.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@hono/zod-validator': patch
+---
+
+correctly set the zod version to follow the official website doc
diff --git a/.changeset/modern-wombats-behave.md b/.changeset/modern-wombats-behave.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07bfbaa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/modern-wombats-behave.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@hono/zod-validator': patch
+---
+
+upgrade zod to v4 and import style to be more tree-shakeable in README.md
diff --git a/packages/zod-validator/README.md b/packages/zod-validator/README.md
index b93327f2..5c120f90 100644
--- a/packages/zod-validator/README.md
+++ b/packages/zod-validator/README.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ The validator middleware using [Zod](https://zod.dev) for [Hono](https://honojs.
 ## Usage
 
 ```ts
-import { z } from 'zod'
+import * as z from 'zod'
 import { zValidator } from '@hono/zod-validator'
 
 const schema = z.object({
diff --git a/packages/zod-validator/package.json b/packages/zod-validator/package.json
index e4bb04f9..a6b735b7 100644
--- a/packages/zod-validator/package.json
+++ b/packages/zod-validator/package.json
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
   "homepage": "https://github.com/honojs/middleware",
   "peerDependencies": {
     "hono": ">=3.9.0",
-    "zod": "^3.25.0"
+    "zod": "^3.25.0 || ^4.0.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@arethetypeswrong/cli": "^0.17.4",
@@ -51,6 +51,6 @@
     "tsup": "^8.4.0",
     "typescript": "^5.8.2",
     "vitest": "^3.2.4",
-    "zod": "~3.25.6"
+    "zod": "^4.0.5"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/zod-validator/src/index.ts b/packages/zod-validator/src/index.ts
index 17c0810b..4689e6d8 100644
--- a/packages/zod-validator/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/zod-validator/src/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any */
 import type { Context, Env, Input, MiddlewareHandler, TypedResponse, ValidationTargets } from 'hono'
 import { validator } from 'hono/validator'
-import type * as v3 from 'zod'
+import type * as v3 from 'zod/v3'
 import type { ZodSafeParseResult as v4ZodSafeParseResult } from 'zod/v4'
 import type * as v4 from 'zod/v4/core'
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index e854d04c..5809abca 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2760,10 +2760,10 @@ __metadata:
     tsup: "npm:^8.4.0"
     typescript: "npm:^5.8.2"
     vitest: "npm:^3.2.4"
-    zod: "npm:~3.25.6"
+    zod: "npm:^4.0.5"
   peerDependencies:
     hono: ">=3.9.0"
-    zod: ^3.25.0
+    zod: ^3.25.0 || ^4.0.0
   languageName: unknown
   linkType: soft
 
@@ -16865,10 +16865,10 @@ __metadata:
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard
 
-"zod@npm:~3.25.6":
-  version: 3.25.36
-  resolution: "zod@npm:3.25.36"
-  checksum: 10c0/9ad8ca759d1a5d19c86d6e49a1bda817b3c0566ea0a8726d45994b9fcaac8d569db45a65218a7b4067ca18b07c5fc636a587a94cd05f76793174ace8b81742e3
+"zod@npm:^4.0.5":
+  version: 4.0.5
+  resolution: "zod@npm:4.0.5"
+  checksum: 10c0/59449d731ca63849b6bcb14300aa6e2f042d440b3ed294b45c248519aec78780f85a5d1939a62c2ce82e9dc60afca77c8005e0a98d7517b0c2586d6c76940424
   languageName: node
   linkType: hard