diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
index dd4e4d073cb1b..9c438401b9fbe 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilder.java
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ public SearchSourceBuilder(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
                 derivedFields = in.readList(DerivedField::new);
             }
         }
-        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_3_0_0)) {
+        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_2_18_0)) {
             searchPipeline = in.readOptionalString();
         }
     }
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
                 out.writeList(derivedFields);
             }
         }
-        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_3_0_0)) {
+        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_2_18_0)) {
             out.writeOptionalString(searchPipeline);
         }
     }