diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
index bc58a03990d5..9bcba8b5d1a1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,30 @@ env:
   RUNNER_COUNT: 7
 
 jobs:
+  metadata:
+    name: Metadata
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    outputs:
+      old-kong-version: ${{ steps.old-kong-version.outputs.ref }}
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Get Old Kong Version
+      id: old-kong-version
+      run: |
+        KONG_VERSION=$(bash scripts/grep-kong-version.sh)
+        major=$(echo "$KONG_VERSION" | cut -d. -f1)
+        minor=$(echo "$KONG_VERSION" | cut -d. -f2)
+        # if the minor version isn't 0, use the first release of the previous minor version;
+        # otherwise just leave it empty, so later the default branch or commit will be used.
+        if [ "$minor" -ne 0 ]; then
+          minor=$((minor - 1))
+          echo "ref=$major.$minor.0" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        else
+          echo "ref=" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        fi
+
   build:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/build.yml
     with:
@@ -137,7 +161,7 @@ jobs:
   busted-tests:
     name: Busted test runner ${{ matrix.runner }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    needs: [build,schedule]
+    needs: [metadata,build,schedule]
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -185,6 +209,15 @@ jobs:
     - name: Checkout Kong source code
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+    # used for plugin compatibility test
+    - name: Checkout old version Kong source code
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        path: kong-old
+        # if the minor version is 0, `ref` will default to ''
+        # which is same as in the previous step
+        ref: ${{ needs.metadata.outputs.old-kong-version }}
+
     - name: Lookup build cache
       id: cache-deps
       uses: actions/cache@v4
@@ -285,6 +318,7 @@ jobs:
         KONG_SPEC_TEST_GRPCBIN_PORT: "15002"
         KONG_SPEC_TEST_GRPCBIN_SSL_PORT: "15003"
         KONG_SPEC_TEST_OTELCOL_FILE_EXPORTER_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/tmp/otel/file_exporter.json
+        KONG_SPEC_TEST_OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/kong-old
         DD_ENV: ci
         DD_SERVICE: kong-ce-ci
         DD_CIVISIBILITY_MANUAL_API_ENABLED: 1
diff --git a/spec/03-plugins/03-http-log/05-old-plugin-compatibility_spec.lua b/spec/03-plugins/03-http-log/05-old-plugin-compatibility_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..22c32d8c9295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/03-plugins/03-http-log/05-old-plugin-compatibility_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+-- This software is copyright Kong Inc. and its licensors.
+-- Use of the software is subject to the agreement between your organization
+-- and Kong Inc. If there is no such agreement, use is governed by and
+-- subject to the terms of the Kong Master Software License Agreement found
+-- at https://konghq.com/enterprisesoftwarelicense/.
+-- [ END OF LICENSE 0867164ffc95e54f04670b5169c09574bdbd9bba ]
+
+local helpers = require "spec.helpers"
+local fmt = string.format
+local plugin_name = "http-log"
+
+for _, strategy in helpers.all_strategies() do
+  describe(fmt("%s - old plugin compatibility [#%s]", plugin_name, strategy), function()
+    local bp, proxy_client, yaml_file
+    local recover_new_plugin
+
+    lazy_setup(function()
+      -- use the old version plugin
+      recover_new_plugin = helpers.use_old_plugin(plugin_name)
+
+      bp = helpers.get_db_utils(strategy == "off" and "postgres" or strategy, {
+        "routes",
+        "services",
+        "plugins",
+      })
+
+      local route = bp.routes:insert({ paths = { "/test" } })
+
+      bp.plugins:insert({
+        name = plugin_name,
+        route = { id = route.id },
+        config = {
+          http_endpoint = fmt("http://%s:%s/post_log/http", helpers.mock_upstream_host, helpers.mock_upstream_port),
+          custom_fields_by_lua = {
+            new_field = "return 123",
+            route = "return nil", -- unset route field
+          },
+        },
+      })
+
+      if strategy == "off" then
+        yaml_file = helpers.make_yaml_file()
+      end
+
+      assert(helpers.start_kong({
+        database   = strategy,
+        nginx_conf = "spec/fixtures/custom_nginx.template",
+        declarative_config = strategy == "off" and yaml_file or nil,
+        pg_host = strategy == "off" and "unknownhost.konghq.com" or nil,
+      }))
+    end)
+
+    lazy_teardown(function()
+      helpers.stop_kong()
+      -- recover the new version plugin
+      recover_new_plugin()
+    end)
+
+    before_each(function()
+      helpers.clean_logfile()
+      proxy_client = helpers.proxy_client()
+    end)
+
+    after_each(function()
+      if proxy_client then
+        proxy_client:close()
+      end
+    end)
+
+    it("should not throw exception when using old version plugin together with the new core", function()
+      local res = assert(proxy_client:send {
+        method = "GET",
+        path = "/test",
+      })
+      assert.not_same(500, res.status)
+
+      -- wait for the log handler to execute
+      ngx.sleep(5)
+
+      assert.logfile().has.no.line("[error]", true, 0)
+      assert.logfile().has.no.line("[alert]", true, 0)
+      assert.logfile().has.no.line("[crit]", true, 0)
+      assert.logfile().has.no.line("[emerg]", true, 0)
+    end)
+  end)
+end
diff --git a/spec/helpers.lua b/spec/helpers.lua
index 5fb537e8c6e4..2f0e7a4ffb5a 100644
--- a/spec/helpers.lua
+++ b/spec/helpers.lua
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ local REDIS_SSL_PORT = tonumber(os.getenv("KONG_SPEC_TEST_REDIS_SSL_PORT") or 63
 local REDIS_SSL_SNI = os.getenv("KONG_SPEC_TEST_REDIS_SSL_SNI") or "test-redis.example.com"
 local TEST_COVERAGE_MODE = os.getenv("KONG_COVERAGE")
 local TEST_COVERAGE_TIMEOUT = 30
+-- consistent with path set in .github/workflows/build_and_test.yml and build/dockerfiles/deb.pongo.Dockerfile
+local OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH = os.getenv("KONG_SPEC_TEST_OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH") or "/usr/local/share/lua/5.1/kong/kong-old"
 local BLACKHOLE_HOST = "10.255.255.255"
 local KONG_VERSION = require("kong.meta")._VERSION
 local PLUGINS_LIST
@@ -4199,6 +4201,44 @@ do
   end
 end
 
+-- This function is used for plugin compatibility test.
+-- It will use the old version plugin by including the path of the old plugin
+-- at the first of LUA_PATH.
+-- The return value is a function which when called will recover the original
+-- LUA_PATH and remove the temporary directory if it exists.
+-- For an example of how to use it, please see:
+-- plugins-ee/rate-limiting-advanced/spec/06-old-plugin-compatibility_spec.lua
+-- spec/03-plugins/03-http-log/05-old-plugin-compatibility_spec.lua
+local function use_old_plugin(name)
+  assert(type(name) == "string", "must specify the plugin name")
+
+  local old_plugin_path
+  local temp_dir
+  if pl_path.exists(OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH .. "/kong/plugins/" .. name) then
+    -- only include the path of the specified plugin into LUA_PATH
+    -- and keep the directory structure 'kong/plugins/...'
+    temp_dir = make_temp_dir()
+    old_plugin_path = temp_dir
+    local dest_dir = old_plugin_path .. "/kong/plugins"
+    assert(pl_dir.makepath(dest_dir), "failed to makepath " .. dest_dir)
+    assert(shell.run("cp -r " .. OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH .. "/kong/plugins/" .. name .. " " .. dest_dir), "failed to copy the plugin directory")
+
+  else
+    error("the specified plugin " .. name .. " doesn't exist")
+  end
+
+  local origin_lua_path = os.getenv("LUA_PATH")
+  -- put the old plugin path at first
+  assert(setenv("LUA_PATH", old_plugin_path .. "/?.lua;" .. old_plugin_path .. "/?/init.lua;" .. origin_lua_path), "failed to set LUA_PATH env")
+
+  return function ()
+    setenv("LUA_PATH", origin_lua_path)
+    if temp_dir then
+      pl_dir.rmtree(temp_dir)
+    end
+  end
+end
+
 
 ----------------
 -- Variables/constants
@@ -4238,6 +4278,7 @@ end
 -- @field zipkin_port the port for Zipkin service, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_ZIPKIN_PORT.
 -- @field otelcol_host The host for OpenTelemetry Collector service, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_OTELCOL_HOST.
 -- @field otelcol_http_port the port for OpenTelemetry Collector service, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_OTELCOL_HTTP_PORT.
+-- @field old_version_kong_path the path for the old version kong source code, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH.
 -- @field otelcol_zpages_port the port for OpenTelemetry Collector Zpages service, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_OTELCOL_ZPAGES_PORT.
 -- @field otelcol_file_exporter_path the path of for OpenTelemetry Collector's file exporter, it can be set by env KONG_SPEC_TEST_OTELCOL_FILE_EXPORTER_PATH.
 
@@ -4302,6 +4343,8 @@ end
 
   blackhole_host = BLACKHOLE_HOST,
 
+  old_version_kong_path = OLD_VERSION_KONG_PATH,
+
   -- Kong testing helpers
   execute = exec,
   dns_mock = dns_mock,
@@ -4372,6 +4415,9 @@ end
   get_grpc_target_port = get_grpc_target_port,
   generate_keys = generate_keys,
 
+  -- plugin compatibility test
+  use_old_plugin = use_old_plugin,
+
   -- Only use in CLI tests from spec/02-integration/01-cmd
   kill_all = function(prefix, timeout)
     local kill = require "kong.cmd.utils.kill"