diff --git a/include/onnxruntime/core/session/onnxruntime_c_api.h b/include/onnxruntime/core/session/onnxruntime_c_api.h
index a73868527771a..7a29ec34d5808 100644
--- a/include/onnxruntime/core/session/onnxruntime_c_api.h
+++ b/include/onnxruntime/core/session/onnxruntime_c_api.h
@@ -7545,7 +7545,10 @@ typedef enum OrtCustomOpInputOutputCharacteristic {
  * the implementor of the custom op.
  */
 struct OrtCustomOp {
-  uint32_t version;  // Must be initialized to ORT_API_VERSION
+  uint32_t version;  // Initialize to ORT_API_VERSION. ORT will cap the API version used to select the OrtApi passed
+                     // to CreateKernel/CreateKernelV2 callbacks, so custom ops compiled against a newer ORT can load
+                     // on an older runtime if they only use APIs available at the runtime version. Newer OrtCustomOp
+                     // function pointers are gated by per-function version checks within ORT.
 
   // This callback creates the kernel, which is a user defined
   // parameter that is passed to the Kernel* callbacks below. It is
diff --git a/onnxruntime/core/session/custom_ops.cc b/onnxruntime/core/session/custom_ops.cc
index 89969172c1bdc..e6ad2ed8481c9 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/core/session/custom_ops.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/core/session/custom_ops.cc
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <type_traits>
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <unordered_set>
+#include <algorithm>
 
 #include <gsl/gsl>
 #include "core/common/safeint.h"
@@ -916,9 +917,13 @@ ORT_API_STATUS_IMPL(OrtApis::KernelContext_GetScratchBuffer, _In_ const OrtKerne
 namespace onnxruntime {
 struct CustomOpKernel : OpKernel {
   CustomOpKernel(const OpKernelInfo& info, const OrtCustomOp& op) : OpKernel(info), op_(op) {
-    if (op_.version > ORT_API_VERSION) {
-      ORT_THROW("Unsupported version '" + std::to_string(op_.version) + "' in custom op '" + op.GetName(&op));
-    }
+    // Cap the version to the current ORT API version. This allows custom ops compiled against a newer ORT
+    // to work on an older ORT runtime, provided they don't call API functions unavailable at the runtime version.
+    // Individual newer functions in OrtCustomOp are gated by per-function version checks throughout this file.
+    const uint32_t api_version = std::min(op_.version, static_cast<uint32_t>(ORT_API_VERSION));
+    const OrtApi* ort_api = OrtGetApiBase()->GetApi(api_version);
+    ORT_ENFORCE(ort_api != nullptr, "Failed to get ORT API for version ",
+                api_version, " in custom op '", op_.GetName(&op_), "'");
 
     if (op_.version >= min_ort_version_with_compute_v2_support &&
         op_.CreateKernelV2) {
@@ -926,11 +931,11 @@ struct CustomOpKernel : OpKernel {
       Ort::ThrowOnError(
           op_.CreateKernelV2(
               &op_,
-              OrtGetApiBase()->GetApi(op_.version),
+              ort_api,
               reinterpret_cast<const OrtKernelInfo*>(&info),
               &op_kernel_));
     } else {
-      op_kernel_ = op_.CreateKernel(&op_, OrtGetApiBase()->GetApi(op_.version),
+      op_kernel_ = op_.CreateKernel(&op_, ort_api,
                                     reinterpret_cast<const OrtKernelInfo*>(&info));
     }
   }
diff --git a/onnxruntime/test/shared_lib/test_inference.cc b/onnxruntime/test/shared_lib/test_inference.cc
index 809d1b903e8cd..a4147383b7c6a 100644
--- a/onnxruntime/test/shared_lib/test_inference.cc
+++ b/onnxruntime/test/shared_lib/test_inference.cc
@@ -748,6 +748,36 @@ TEST(CApiTest, SparseInputModel) {
 #endif  // DISABLE_CONTRIB_OPS
 #endif  // !defined(DISABLE_SPARSE_TENSORS)
 
+// Test that a custom op compiled against a newer ORT version (higher OrtCustomOp::version)
+// can still be loaded on this ORT runtime. This simulates the forward compatibility
+// scenario where an IHV EP compiled against ORT v(N+1) is loaded into ORT v(N).
+// We test session creation only (which covers schema registration, kernel def building, and
+// CustomOpKernel construction with the capped API version).
+TEST(CApiTest, custom_op_forward_version_compat) {
+  std::vector<Input<float>> inputs(1);
+  auto& input = inputs[0];
+  input.name = "X";
+  input.dims = {3, 2};
+  input.values = {1.0f, 2.0f, 3.0f, 4.0f, 5.0f, 6.0f};
+
+  std::vector<int64_t> expected_dims_y = {3, 2};
+  std::vector<float> expected_values_y = {2.0f, 4.0f, 6.0f, 8.0f, 10.0f, 12.0f};
+
+  MyCustomOp custom_op{onnxruntime::kCpuExecutionProvider};
+
+  // Simulate an EP compiled against a newer ORT version by setting version higher than ORT_API_VERSION.
+  // The OrtCustomOp struct's function pointers are still valid for the current version, so this should work.
+  custom_op.version = ORT_API_VERSION + 1;
+
+  Ort::CustomOpDomain custom_op_domain("test");
+  custom_op_domain.Add(&custom_op);
+
+  // test_session_creation_only=true: exercises schema registration, kernel def building, and
+  // CustomOpKernel construction (which was previously blocked by the blanket version reject).
+  TestInference<float>(*ort_env, CUSTOM_OP_MODEL_URI, inputs, "Y", expected_dims_y, expected_values_y, 0,
+                       custom_op_domain, nullptr, /*test_session_creation_only=*/true);
+}
+
 // Memory leak
 #ifndef ABSL_HAVE_ADDRESS_SANITIZER
 TEST(CApiTest, custom_op_handler) {