diff --git a/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua b/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
index a405d0a10fb..3bcd515520f 100644
--- a/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
+++ b/kong/clustering/services/sync/rpc.lua
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ function _M:init_cp(manager)
 
     --  string comparison effectively does the same as number comparison
     if not is_valid_version(default_namespace_version) or
-       default_namespace_version < latest_version then
+       default_namespace_version ~= latest_version then
       return full_sync_result()
     end