diff --git a/cluster-operator/src/main/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtils.java b/cluster-operator/src/main/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtils.java
index c1a459b8ec1..13e6e0c1076 100644
--- a/cluster-operator/src/main/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtils.java
+++ b/cluster-operator/src/main/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtils.java
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ public static void validateVersionsForKRaftMigration(String kafkaVersionFromCr,
 
         MetadataVersion kafkaVersion = MetadataVersion.fromVersionString(kafkaVersionFromCr);
         // this should check that spec.kafka.version is >= 3.7.0
-        boolean isMigrationSupported = kafkaVersion.isMigrationSupported();
+        boolean isMigrationSupported = kafkaVersion.isAtLeast(MetadataVersion.IBP_3_7_IV0);
 
         MetadataVersion metadataVersion = MetadataVersion.fromVersionString(metadataVersionFromCr);
         MetadataVersion interBrokerProtocolVersion = MetadataVersion.fromVersionString(interBrokerProtocolVersionFromCr);
diff --git a/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtilsTest.java b/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtilsTest.java
index 80e290f3a7b..00928aba1a9 100644
--- a/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtilsTest.java
+++ b/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KRaftUtilsTest.java
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ public void testZooKeeperWarnings() {
     @ParallelTest
     public void testsVersionsForKRaftMigrationValidation() {
         // Valid values
-        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> KRaftUtils.validateVersionsForKRaftMigration("3.6.1", "3.6-IV2", "3.6", "3.6"));
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> KRaftUtils.validateVersionsForKRaftMigration("3.7.0", "3.7-IV4", "3.7", "3.7"));
 
         // Invalid Values
         InvalidResourceException e = assertThrows(InvalidResourceException.class, () -> KRaftUtils.validateVersionsForKRaftMigration("3.6.1", "3.6-IV2", "3.5", "3.5"));
diff --git a/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KafkaClusterTest.java b/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KafkaClusterTest.java
index 8904d529097..a98e855b774 100644
--- a/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KafkaClusterTest.java
+++ b/cluster-operator/src/test/java/io/strimzi/operator/cluster/model/KafkaClusterTest.java
@@ -3990,13 +3990,13 @@ public void withTolerations() throws IOException {
     public void testInvalidInterBrokerProtocolAndLogMessageFormatOnKRaftMigration() {
         // invalid values ... metadata missing (it gets the Kafka version), inter broker protocol and log message format lower than Kafka version
         Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
-        config.put("inter.broker.protocol.version", "3.5");
-        config.put("log.message.format.version", "3.5");
+        config.put("inter.broker.protocol.version", "3.6");
+        config.put("log.message.format.version", "3.6");
 
         Kafka kafka = new KafkaBuilder(KAFKA)
                 .editSpec()
                     .editKafka()
-                        .withVersion("3.6.1")
+                        .withVersion("3.7.0")
                         .withConfig(config)
                     .endKafka()
                 .endSpec()
@@ -4009,14 +4009,14 @@ public void testInvalidInterBrokerProtocolAndLogMessageFormatOnKRaftMigration()
             KafkaVersionChange kafkaVersionChange = new KafkaVersionChange(
                     kafkaVersion,
                     kafkaVersion,
-                    VERSIONS.version("3.5.0").protocolVersion(),
-                    VERSIONS.version("3.5.0").messageVersion(),
+                    VERSIONS.version("3.6.0").protocolVersion(),
+                    VERSIONS.version("3.6.0").messageVersion(),
                     // as per ZooKeeperVersionChangeCreator, when migration, we set missing metadata version to the Kafka version
                     kafkaVersion.metadataVersion());
             KafkaCluster.fromCrd(Reconciliation.DUMMY_RECONCILIATION, kafka, pools, VERSIONS, kafkaVersionChange, KafkaMetadataConfigurationState.PRE_MIGRATION, null, SHARED_ENV_PROVIDER);
         });
 
-        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("Migration cannot be performed with Kafka version 3.6-IV2, metadata version 3.6-IV2, inter.broker.protocol.version 3.5-IV2, log.message.format.version 3.5-IV2."));
+        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("Migration cannot be performed with Kafka version 3.7-IV4, metadata version 3.7-IV4, inter.broker.protocol.version 3.6-IV2, log.message.format.version 3.6-IV2."));
     }
 
     @ParallelTest
@@ -4025,8 +4025,8 @@ public void testInvalidMetadataVersionOnKRaftMigration() {
         Kafka kafka = new KafkaBuilder(KAFKA)
                 .editSpec()
                     .editKafka()
-                        .withVersion("3.6.1")
-                        .withMetadataVersion("3.5-IV2")
+                        .withVersion("3.7.0")
+                        .withMetadataVersion("3.6-IV2")
                         .withConfig(Map.of())
                     .endKafka()
                 .endSpec()
@@ -4046,20 +4046,20 @@ public void testInvalidMetadataVersionOnKRaftMigration() {
             KafkaCluster.fromCrd(Reconciliation.DUMMY_RECONCILIATION, kafka, pools, VERSIONS, kafkaVersionChange, KafkaMetadataConfigurationState.PRE_MIGRATION, null, SHARED_ENV_PROVIDER);
         });
 
-        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("Migration cannot be performed with Kafka version 3.6-IV2, metadata version 3.5-IV2, inter.broker.protocol.version 3.6-IV2, log.message.format.version 3.6-IV2."));
+        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("Migration cannot be performed with Kafka version 3.7-IV4, metadata version 3.6-IV2, inter.broker.protocol.version 3.7-IV4, log.message.format.version 3.7-IV4."));
     }
 
     @ParallelTest
     public void testValidVersionsOnKRaftMigration() {
         Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
-        config.put("inter.broker.protocol.version", "3.6");
-        config.put("log.message.format.version", "3.6");
+        config.put("inter.broker.protocol.version", "3.7");
+        config.put("log.message.format.version", "3.7");
 
         Kafka kafka = new KafkaBuilder(KAFKA)
                 .editSpec()
                     .editKafka()
-                        .withVersion("3.6.1")
-                        .withMetadataVersion("3.6-IV2")
+                        .withVersion("3.7.0")
+                        .withMetadataVersion("3.7-IV4")
                         .withConfig(config)
                 .endKafka()
                 .endSpec()