diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/main/MainResponse.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/main/MainResponse.java
index d3a54dec60545..3b32bdea29190 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/main/MainResponse.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/main/MainResponse.java
@@ -102,7 +102,11 @@ public Build getBuild() {
     @Override
     public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         out.writeString(nodeName);
-        Version.writeVersion(version, out);
+        if (out.getVersion().before(Version.V_1_0_0)) {
+            Version.writeVersion(LegacyESVersion.V_7_10_2, out);
+        } else {
+            Version.writeVersion(version, out);
+        }
         clusterName.writeTo(out);
         out.writeString(clusterUuid);
         Build.writeBuild(build, out);