diff --git a/e2e/vault/matrix_test.go b/e2e/vault/matrix_test.go
index 1dc786a6a..86dcf96f6 100644
--- a/e2e/vault/matrix_test.go
+++ b/e2e/vault/matrix_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ package vault
 var (
 	// versions is the set of Vault versions we test for backwards compatibility
 	versions = []string{
+		"1.1.0",
+		"1.0.3",
+		"1.0.2",
+		"1.0.1",
 		"1.0.0",
 		"0.11.5",
 		"0.11.4",
diff --git a/e2e/vault/vault_test.go b/e2e/vault/vault_test.go
index 2fcdb9b63..da1dc9f4e 100644
--- a/e2e/vault/vault_test.go
+++ b/e2e/vault/vault_test.go
@@ -12,9 +12,12 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
+
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/command/agent"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/structs/config"
@@ -254,8 +257,32 @@ func testVaultCompatibility(t *testing.T, vault string) {
 func setupVault(t *testing.T, client *vapi.Client) string {
 	// Write the policy
 	sys := client.Sys()
-	if err := sys.PutPolicy("nomad-server", policy); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("failed to create policy: %v", err)
+
+	// pre-0.9.0 vault servers do not work with our new vault client for the policy endpoint
+	// perform this using a raw HTTP request
+	newApi, err := version.NewVersion("0.9.0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to parse comparison version: %v", err)
+	}
+	testVersion, err := version.NewVersion(strings.TrimPrefix(t.Name(), "TestVaultCompatibility/"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to parse test version from '%v': %v", t.Name(), err)
+	}
+	if testVersion.LessThan(newApi) {
+		body := map[string]string{
+			"rules": policy,
+		}
+		request := client.NewRequest("PUT", fmt.Sprintf("/v1/sys/policy/%s", "nomad-server"))
+		if err := request.SetJSONBody(body); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to set JSON body on legacy policy creation: %v", err)
+		}
+		if _, err := client.RawRequest(request); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to create legacy policy: %v", err)
+		}
+	} else {
+		if err := sys.PutPolicy("nomad-server", policy); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to create policy: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Build the role