diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index f71af2abd9..6716145fbe 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+1.12.1a1 (2025-12-26)
+----------------------
+
+Bug Fixes
+
+* Fix ``DbtSourceWatcherOperator.template_fields`` to inherit from ``DbtSourceLocalOperator`` instead of ``DbtConsumerWatcherSensor`` by @pankajkoti in #2214
+
 1.12.0 (2025-12-18)
 ----------------------
 
diff --git a/cosmos/__init__.py b/cosmos/__init__.py
index d113ba240b..be4f762632 100644
--- a/cosmos/__init__.py
+++ b/cosmos/__init__.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 from cosmos import settings
 
-__version__ = "1.12.0"
+__version__ = "1.12.1a1"
 
 if not settings.enable_memory_optimised_imports:
     from cosmos.airflow.dag import DbtDag
diff --git a/cosmos/operators/watcher.py b/cosmos/operators/watcher.py
index 1c44191df8..282e8706b5 100644
--- a/cosmos/operators/watcher.py
+++ b/cosmos/operators/watcher.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import json
 import logging
 import zlib
+from collections.abc import Sequence
 from datetime import timedelta
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
@@ -503,7 +504,7 @@ class DbtSourceWatcherOperator(DbtSourceLocalOperator):
     Executes a dbt source freshness command, synchronously, as ExecutionMode.LOCAL.
     """
 
-    template_fields: tuple[str, ...] = DbtConsumerWatcherSensor.template_fields
+    template_fields: Sequence[str] = DbtSourceLocalOperator.template_fields  # type: ignore[assignment]
 
 
 class DbtRunWatcherOperator(DbtConsumerWatcherSensor):
diff --git a/tests/operators/test_watcher.py b/tests/operators/test_watcher.py
index eb545bb879..d8d34886ed 100644
--- a/tests/operators/test_watcher.py
+++ b/tests/operators/test_watcher.py
@@ -1287,3 +1287,16 @@ def test_sensor_and_producer_different_param_values(mock_bigquery_conn):
             assert task.execution_timeout == timedelta(seconds=2)
         else:
             assert task.execution_timeout == timedelta(seconds=1)
+
+
+def test_dbt_source_watcher_operator_template_fields():
+    """Test that DbtSourceWatcherOperator doesn't include model_unique_id in template_fields."""
+    from cosmos.operators.local import DbtSourceLocalOperator
+    from cosmos.operators.watcher import DbtSourceWatcherOperator
+
+    # DbtSourceWatcherOperator should NOT have model_unique_id in template_fields
+    # because it runs locally and doesn't watch models, it executes source freshness
+    assert "model_unique_id" not in DbtSourceWatcherOperator.template_fields
+
+    # DbtSourceWatcherOperator should inherit template_fields from DbtSourceLocalOperator
+    assert DbtSourceWatcherOperator.template_fields == DbtSourceLocalOperator.template_fields