diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index db6f7a79e624d..7f2a0c913458f 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -182,8 +182,8 @@ task verifyVersions {
  * after the backport of the backcompat code is complete.
  */
 
-boolean bwc_tests_enabled = false
-final String bwc_tests_disabled_issue = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/54357" /* place a PR link here when committing bwc changes */
+boolean bwc_tests_enabled = true
+final String bwc_tests_disabled_issue = "" /* place a PR link here when committing bwc changes */
 if (bwc_tests_enabled == false) {
   if (bwc_tests_disabled_issue.isEmpty()) {
     throw new GradleException("bwc_tests_disabled_issue must be set when bwc_tests_enabled == false")
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
index a189200f73add..1106d6aca46b4 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/admin/cluster/node/stats/NodeStats.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public NodeStats(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
         discoveryStats = in.readOptionalWriteable(DiscoveryStats::new);
         ingestStats = in.readOptionalWriteable(IngestStats::new);
         adaptiveSelectionStats = in.readOptionalWriteable(AdaptiveSelectionStats::new);
-        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_8_0_0)) {
+        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_8_0)) {
             scriptCacheStats = in.readOptionalWriteable(ScriptCacheStats::new);
         } else {
             scriptCacheStats = null;
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         out.writeOptionalWriteable(discoveryStats);
         out.writeOptionalWriteable(ingestStats);
         out.writeOptionalWriteable(adaptiveSelectionStats);
-        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_8_0_0)) {
+        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_8_0)) {
             out.writeOptionalWriteable(scriptCacheStats);
         }
     }