diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
index 56d07ddd713..e78e122c44f 100644
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ static constexpr bool DEFAULT_FIXEDSEEDS{true};
 static const size_t DEFAULT_MAXRECEIVEBUFFER = 5 * 1000;
 static const size_t DEFAULT_MAXSENDBUFFER    = 1 * 1000;
 
-static constexpr bool DEFAULT_V2_TRANSPORT{false};
+static constexpr bool DEFAULT_V2_TRANSPORT{true};
 
 typedef int64_t NodeId;
 
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
index 58956a95f70..838dcba141f 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -130,8 +130,15 @@ class TestNode():
         # Default behavior from global -v2transport flag is added to args to persist it over restarts.
         # May be overwritten in individual tests, using extra_args.
         self.default_to_v2 = v2transport
-        if self.default_to_v2:
-            self.args.append("-v2transport=1")
+        if self.version_is_at_least(260000):
+            # 26.0 and later support v2transport
+            if v2transport:
+                self.args.append("-v2transport=1")
+            else:
+                self.args.append("-v2transport=0")
+        else:
+            # v2transport requested but not supported for node
+            assert not v2transport
 
         self.cli = TestNodeCLI(bitcoin_cli, self.datadir_path)
         self.use_cli = use_cli