diff --git a/x-pack/qa/repository-old-versions/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/oldrepos/OldRepositoryAccessIT.java b/x-pack/qa/repository-old-versions/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/oldrepos/OldRepositoryAccessIT.java
index 74051101bcc44..9385e92af6d38 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/repository-old-versions/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/oldrepos/OldRepositoryAccessIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/qa/repository-old-versions/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/oldrepos/OldRepositoryAccessIT.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.set.Sets;
+import org.elasticsearch.core.internal.io.IOUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.builder.SearchSourceBuilder;
@@ -71,10 +72,22 @@ protected static RestHighLevelClient highLevelClient(RestClient client) {
         };
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("removal")
     public void testOldRepoAccess() throws IOException {
+        runTest(false);
+    }
+
+    public void testOldSourceOnlyRepoAccess() throws IOException {
+        runTest(true);
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("removal")
+    public void runTest(boolean sourceOnlyRepository) throws IOException {
         String repoLocation = System.getProperty("tests.repo.location");
         Version oldVersion = Version.fromString(System.getProperty("tests.es.version"));
+        assumeTrue(
+            "source only repositories only supported since ES 6.5.0",
+            sourceOnlyRepository == false || oldVersion.onOrAfter(Version.fromString("6.5.0"))
+        );
 
         int oldEsPort = Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("tests.es.port"));
         int numDocs = 5;
@@ -89,7 +102,7 @@ public void testOldRepoAccess() throws IOException {
                 createIndex.setJsonEntity("""
                     {"settings":{"number_of_shards": %s}}
                     """.formatted(numberOfShards));
-                oldEs.performRequest(createIndex);
+                assertOK(oldEs.performRequest(createIndex));
 
                 for (int i = 0; i < numDocs; i++) {
                     String id = "testdoc" + i;
@@ -97,30 +110,35 @@ public void testOldRepoAccess() throws IOException {
                     Request doc = new Request("PUT", "/test/doc/" + id);
                     doc.addParameter("refresh", "true");
                     doc.setJsonEntity(sourceForDoc(i));
-                    oldEs.performRequest(doc);
+                    assertOK(oldEs.performRequest(doc));
                 }
 
                 // register repo on old ES and take snapshot
                 Request createRepoRequest = new Request("PUT", "/_snapshot/testrepo");
-                createRepoRequest.setJsonEntity("""
+                createRepoRequest.setJsonEntity(sourceOnlyRepository ? """
+                    {"type":"source","settings":{"location":"%s","delegate_type":"fs"}}
+                    """.formatted(repoLocation) : """
                     {"type":"fs","settings":{"location":"%s"}}
                     """.formatted(repoLocation));
-                oldEs.performRequest(createRepoRequest);
+                assertOK(oldEs.performRequest(createRepoRequest));
 
                 Request createSnapshotRequest = new Request("PUT", "/_snapshot/testrepo/snap1");
                 createSnapshotRequest.addParameter("wait_for_completion", "true");
                 createSnapshotRequest.setJsonEntity("{\"indices\":\"test\"}");
-                oldEs.performRequest(createSnapshotRequest);
+                assertOK(oldEs.performRequest(createSnapshotRequest));
 
                 // register repo on new ES
                 Settings.Builder repoSettingsBuilder = Settings.builder().put("location", repoLocation);
+                if (sourceOnlyRepository) {
+                    repoSettingsBuilder.put("delegate_type", "fs");
+                }
                 if (Build.CURRENT.isSnapshot()) {
                     repoSettingsBuilder.put("allow_bwc_indices", true);
                 }
                 ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked(
                     client.snapshot()
                         .createRepository(
-                            new PutRepositoryRequest("testrepo").type("fs").settings(repoSettingsBuilder),
+                            new PutRepositoryRequest("testrepo").type(sourceOnlyRepository ? "source" : "fs").settings(repoSettingsBuilder),
                             RequestOptions.DEFAULT
                         )
                 );
@@ -193,7 +211,19 @@ public void testOldRepoAccess() throws IOException {
                     restoreMountAndVerify(numDocs, expectedIds, client, numberOfShards);
                 }
             } finally {
-                oldEs.performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/test"));
+                IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(
+                    () -> oldEs.performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/test")),
+                    () -> oldEs.performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/_snapshot/testrepo/snap1")),
+                    () -> oldEs.performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/_snapshot/testrepo"))
+                );
+                if (Build.CURRENT.isSnapshot()) {
+                    IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(
+                        () -> client().performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/restored_test")),
+                        () -> client().performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/mounted_full_copy_test")),
+                        () -> client().performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/mounted_shared_cache_test"))
+                    );
+                }
+                IOUtils.closeWhileHandlingException(() -> client().performRequest(new Request("DELETE", "/_snapshot/testrepo")));
             }
         }
     }