diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchTransportService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchTransportService.java
index bbe9f65fca3bb..3bd1b125c9f1b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchTransportService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchTransportService.java
@@ -105,8 +105,18 @@ public void sendFreeContext(Transport.Connection connection, long contextId, fin
 
     public void sendCanMatch(Transport.Connection connection, final ShardSearchTransportRequest request, SearchTask task, final
                             ActionListener<CanMatchResponse> listener) {
-        transportService.sendChildRequest(connection, QUERY_CAN_MATCH_NAME, request, task,
-            TransportRequestOptions.EMPTY, new ActionListenerResponseHandler<>(listener, CanMatchResponse::new));
+        if (connection.getNode().getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion())) {
+            transportService.sendChildRequest(connection, QUERY_CAN_MATCH_NAME, request, task,
+                TransportRequestOptions.EMPTY, new ActionListenerResponseHandler<>(listener, CanMatchResponse::new));
+        } else {
+            // this might look weird but if we are in a CrossClusterSearch environment we can get a connection
+            // to a pre 5.latest node which is proxied by a 5.latest node under the hood since we are only compatible with 5.latest
+            // instead of sending the request we shortcut it here and let the caller deal with this -- see #25704
+            // also failing the request instead of returning a fake answer might trigger a retry on a replica which might be on a
+            // compatible node
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("can_match is not supported on pre "+ Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion() +
+                " nodes");
+        }
     }
 
     public void sendClearAllScrollContexts(Transport.Connection connection, final ActionListener<TransportResponse> listener) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
index 707312cd2814c..662638ae1a505 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchService.java
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ public static boolean canRewriteToMatchNone(SearchSourceBuilder source) {
         } else {
             AggregatorFactories.Builder aggregations = source.aggregations();
             if (aggregations != null) {
-                if (aggregations.mustVisiteAllDocs()) {
+                if (aggregations.mustVisitAllDocs()) {
                     return false;
                 }
             }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/AggregatorFactories.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/AggregatorFactories.java
index f995c484d8273..579ff4bdad1da 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/AggregatorFactories.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/AggregatorFactories.java
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
             }
         }
 
-        public boolean mustVisiteAllDocs() {
+        public boolean mustVisitAllDocs() {
             for (AggregationBuilder builder : aggregationBuilders) {
                 if (builder instanceof GlobalAggregationBuilder) {
                     return true;
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/CanMatchPreFilterSearchPhaseTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/CanMatchPreFilterSearchPhaseTests.java
index 7c393b41c07d7..8d2ef87fcbf16 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/CanMatchPreFilterSearchPhaseTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/CanMatchPreFilterSearchPhaseTests.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.search.internal.AliasFilter;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.internal.ShardSearchTransportRequest;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.VersionUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.Transport;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -102,6 +103,18 @@ public void run() throws IOException {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testOldNodesTriggerException() {
+        SearchTransportService searchTransportService = new SearchTransportService(
+            Settings.builder().put("search.remote.connect", false).build(), null);
+        DiscoveryNode node = new DiscoveryNode("node_1", buildNewFakeTransportAddress(), VersionUtils.getPreviousVersion(Version
+            .CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion()));
+        SearchAsyncActionTests.MockConnection mockConnection = new SearchAsyncActionTests.MockConnection(node);
+        IllegalArgumentException illegalArgumentException = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> searchTransportService.sendCanMatch(mockConnection, null, null, null));
+        assertEquals("can_match is not supported on pre " + Version
+            .CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion() + " nodes", illegalArgumentException.getMessage());
+    }
+
     public void testFilterWithFailure() throws InterruptedException {
         final TransportSearchAction.SearchTimeProvider timeProvider = new TransportSearchAction.SearchTimeProvider(0, System.nanoTime(),
             System::nanoTime);
@@ -117,13 +130,18 @@ public void testFilterWithFailure() throws InterruptedException {
             @Override
             public void sendCanMatch(Transport.Connection connection, ShardSearchTransportRequest request, SearchTask task,
                                      ActionListener<CanMatchResponse> listener) {
-                new Thread(() ->  {
-                    if (request.shardId().id() == 0) {
-                        listener.onResponse(new CanMatchResponse(shard1));
-                    } else {
-                        listener.onFailure(new NullPointerException());
-                    }
-                }).start();
+                boolean throwException = request.shardId().id() != 0;
+                if (throwException && randomBoolean()) {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("boom");
+                } else {
+                    new Thread(() -> {
+                        if (throwException == false) {
+                            listener.onResponse(new CanMatchResponse(shard1));
+                        } else {
+                            listener.onFailure(new NullPointerException());
+                        }
+                    }).start();
+                }
             }
         };