diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index bd1c6a41..16fdb603 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ buildscript {
         isSnapshot = "true" == System.getProperty("build.snapshot", "true")
         buildVersionQualifier = System.getProperty("build.version_qualifier", "")
 
-        default_bwc_version = System.getProperty("bwc.version", "2.8.0.0")
+        default_bwc_version = System.getProperty("bwc.version", "2.9.0.0")
         pa_bwc_version = System.getProperty("tests.bwc.version", default_bwc_version)
         baseName = "paBwcCluster"
 
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ task integTestRemote(type: RestIntegTestTask) {
     testClusters {
         "${baseName}$i" {
             testDistribution = "ARCHIVE"
-            versions = ["2.8.0-SNAPSHOT", opensearch_version]
+            versions = ["2.9.0-SNAPSHOT", opensearch_version]
             numberOfNodes = 3
             plugin(provider(new Callable<RegularFile>() {
                 @Override