diff --git a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/llama_index/vector_stores/mariadb/base.py b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/llama_index/vector_stores/mariadb/base.py
index 34b5f644a7823..5394ad1c9e1df 100644
--- a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/llama_index/vector_stores/mariadb/base.py
+++ b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/llama_index/vector_stores/mariadb/base.py
@@ -177,6 +177,17 @@ def _connect(self) -> Any:
             self.connection_string, connect_args=self.connection_args, echo=self.debug
         )
 
+    def _validate_server_version(self) -> None:
+        """Validate that the MariaDB server version is supported."""
+        with self._engine.connect() as connection:
+            result = connection.execute(sqlalchemy.text("SELECT VERSION()"))
+            version = result.fetchone()[0]
+
+            if not _meets_min_server_version(version, "11.7.1"):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"MariaDB version 11.7.1 or later is required, found version: {version}."
+                )
+
     def _create_table_if_not_exists(self) -> None:
         with self._engine.connect() as connection:
             # Note that we define the vector index with DISTANCE=cosine, because we use VEC_DISTANCE_COSINE.
@@ -201,6 +212,7 @@ def _initialize(self) -> None:
         if not self._is_initialized:
             self._connect()
             if self.perform_setup:
+                self._validate_server_version()
                 self._create_table_if_not_exists()
             self._is_initialized = True
 
@@ -431,3 +443,19 @@ def clear(self) -> None:
             connection.execute(sqlalchemy.text(stmt))
 
             connection.commit()
+
+
+def _meets_min_server_version(version: str, min_version: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if a MariaDB server version meets minimum required version.
+
+    Args:
+        version: Version string from MariaDB server (e.g. "11.7.1-MariaDB-ubu2404")
+        min_version: Minimum required version string (e.g. "11.7.1")
+
+    Returns:
+        bool: True if version >= min_version, False otherwise
+    """
+    version = version.split("-")[0]
+    version_parts = [int(x) for x in version.split(".")]
+    min_version_parts = [int(x) for x in min_version.split(".")]
+    return version_parts >= min_version_parts
diff --git a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/pyproject.toml b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/pyproject.toml
index 3f0c06259fa1e..94443f379bba9 100644
--- a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/pyproject.toml
+++ b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/pyproject.toml
@@ -69,3 +69,6 @@ include = "llama_index/"
 filterwarnings = [
     "ignore::DeprecationWarning:",
 ]
+markers = [
+    "noautousefixtures: marks tests that should not run fixtures with autouse",
+]
diff --git a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/tests/test_mariadb.py b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/tests/test_mariadb.py
index cbcd24ee309d7..4dc9f1e2b1a8e 100644
--- a/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/tests/test_mariadb.py
+++ b/llama-index-integrations/vector_stores/llama-index-vector-stores-mariadb/tests/test_mariadb.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     VectorStoreQuery,
 )
 from llama_index.vector_stores.mariadb import MariaDBVectorStore
+from llama_index.vector_stores.mariadb.base import _meets_min_server_version
 
 TEST_NODES: List[TextNode] = [
     TextNode(
@@ -76,21 +77,45 @@
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def teardown() -> Generator:
+def teardown(request: pytest.FixtureRequest) -> Generator:
     """Clear the store after a test completion."""
     yield
 
+    if "noautousefixtures" in request.keywords:
+        return
+
     vector_store.clear()
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
-def close_db_connection() -> Generator:
+def close_db_connection(request: pytest.FixtureRequest) -> Generator:
     """Close the DB connections after the last test."""
     yield
 
+    if "noautousefixtures" in request.keywords:
+        return
+
     vector_store.close()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("version", "supported"),
+    [
+        ("11.7.2-MariaDB-ubu2504", True),
+        ("11.7.1-MariaDB-ubu2404", True),
+        ("11.8.0", True),
+        ("12.0.0", True),
+        ("11.7.0", False),
+        ("11.6.0-MariaDB-ubu2404", False),
+        ("10.11.7-MariaDB-1:10.11.7+maria~ubu2204", False),
+        ("8.4.3", False),
+    ],
+)
+@pytest.mark.noautousefixtures()
+def test_meets_min_server_version(version: str, supported: bool) -> None:
+    assert _meets_min_server_version(version, "11.7.1") == supported
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     run_integration_tests is False,
     reason="MariaDB instance required for integration tests",