diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 15c29ffe929ea..00d6814b668d1 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -213,9 +213,9 @@ tasks.register("verifyVersions") {
  * after the backport of the backcompat code is complete.
  */
 
-boolean bwc_tests_enabled = false
+boolean bwc_tests_enabled = true
 // place a PR link here when committing bwc changes:
-String bwc_tests_disabled_issue = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/pull/72931"
+String bwc_tests_disabled_issue = ""
 /*
  * FIPS 140-2 behavior was fixed in 7.11.0. Before that there is no way to run elasticsearch in a
  * JVM that is properly configured to be in fips mode with BCFIPS. For now we need to disable
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskInfo.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskInfo.java
index 51ebac9ba4bb5..3b6e6e6e2fb15 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskInfo.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tasks/TaskInfo.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.tasks;
 
-import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.ParseField;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.bytes.BytesReference;
@@ -104,11 +103,7 @@ public TaskInfo(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
         startTime = in.readLong();
         runningTimeNanos = in.readLong();
         cancellable = in.readBoolean();
-        if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_8_0_0)) {
-            cancelled = in.readBoolean();
-        } else {
-            cancelled = false; // older versions do not report when tasks are cancelled so we just assume they aren't
-        }
+        cancelled = in.readBoolean();
         assert cancellable || cancelled == false : "uncancellable task cannot be cancelled";
         parentTaskId = TaskId.readFromStream(in);
         headers = in.readMap(StreamInput::readString, StreamInput::readString);
@@ -124,9 +119,7 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
         out.writeLong(startTime);
         out.writeLong(runningTimeNanos);
         out.writeBoolean(cancellable);
-        if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_8_0_0)) {
-            out.writeBoolean(cancelled);
-        } // older versions do not report when tasks are cancelled anyway so it's ok just to drop this flag
+        out.writeBoolean(cancelled);
         parentTaskId.writeTo(out);
         out.writeMap(headers, StreamOutput::writeString, StreamOutput::writeString);
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/enrich/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/collector/enrich/ExecutingPolicyDocTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/enrich/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/collector/enrich/ExecutingPolicyDocTests.java
index 8f0886fd3bad3..11c034074d314 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/enrich/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/collector/enrich/ExecutingPolicyDocTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/enrich/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/monitoring/collector/enrich/ExecutingPolicyDocTests.java
@@ -124,9 +124,7 @@ public void testToXContent() throws IOException {
                     + ","
                     + "\"cancellable\":"
                     + executingPolicy.getTaskInfo().isCancellable()
-                    + (executingPolicy.getTaskInfo().isCancellable()
-                        ? ",\"cancelled\":" + executingPolicy.getTaskInfo().isCancellable()
-                        : "")
+                    + (executingPolicy.getTaskInfo().isCancellable() ? ",\"cancelled\":" + executingPolicy.getTaskInfo().isCancelled() : "")
                     + ","
                     + header.map(entry -> String.format(Locale.ROOT, "\"headers\":{\"%s\":\"%s\"}", entry.getKey(), entry.getValue()))
                         .orElse("\"headers\":{}")