diff --git a/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSection.java b/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSection.java
index 0220c0931bca1..6e9107152c6f7 100644
--- a/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSection.java
+++ b/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSection.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.elasticsearch.Build;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.HasAttributeNodeSelector;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Node;
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.TreeMap;
+import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
@@ -626,24 +628,45 @@ public String toString() {
         return result;
     }
 
+    private static boolean matchWithRange(String nodeVersionString, List<VersionRange> acceptedVersionRanges, XContentLocation location) {
+        try {
+            Version version = Version.fromString(nodeVersionString);
+            return acceptedVersionRanges.stream().anyMatch(v -> v.contains(version));
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new XContentParseException(
+                location,
+                "[version] range node selector expects a semantic version format (x.y.z), but found " + nodeVersionString,
+                e
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     private static NodeSelector parseVersionSelector(XContentParser parser) throws IOException {
         if (false == parser.currentToken().isValue()) {
             throw new XContentParseException(parser.getTokenLocation(), "expected [version] to be a value");
         }
-        List<VersionRange> skipVersionRanges = parser.text().equals("current")
-            ? List.of(new VersionRange(Version.CURRENT, Version.CURRENT))
-            : SkipSection.parseVersionRanges(parser.text());
+
+        final Predicate<String> nodeMatcher;
+        final String versionSelectorString;
+        if (parser.text().equals("current")) {
+            nodeMatcher = nodeVersion -> Build.current().version().equals(nodeVersion);
+            versionSelectorString = "version is " + Build.current().version() + " (current)";
+        } else {
+            var acceptedVersionRange = SkipSection.parseVersionRanges(parser.text());
+            nodeMatcher = nodeVersion -> matchWithRange(nodeVersion, acceptedVersionRange, parser.getTokenLocation());
+            versionSelectorString = "version ranges " + acceptedVersionRange;
+        }
+
         return new NodeSelector() {
             @Override
             public void select(Iterable<Node> nodes) {
                 for (Iterator<Node> itr = nodes.iterator(); itr.hasNext();) {
                     Node node = itr.next();
-                    if (node.getVersion() == null) {
+                    String versionString = node.getVersion();
+                    if (versionString == null) {
                         throw new IllegalStateException("expected [version] metadata to be set but got " + node);
                     }
-                    Version version = Version.fromString(node.getVersion());
-                    boolean skip = skipVersionRanges.stream().anyMatch(v -> v.contains(version));
-                    if (false == skip) {
+                    if (nodeMatcher.test(versionString) == false) {
                         itr.remove();
                     }
                 }
@@ -651,7 +674,7 @@ public void select(Iterable<Node> nodes) {
 
             @Override
             public String toString() {
-                return "version ranges " + skipVersionRanges;
+                return versionSelectorString;
             }
         };
     }
diff --git a/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSectionTests.java b/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSectionTests.java
index 88c5fdfdb1e78..501f83bb02e1f 100644
--- a/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSectionTests.java
+++ b/test/yaml-rest-runner/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/rest/yaml/section/DoSectionTests.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.section;
 
 import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
+import org.elasticsearch.Build;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Node;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.NodeSelector;
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.ClientYamlTestExecutionContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.yaml.ClientYamlTestResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentLocation;
+import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentParseException;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.yaml.YamlXContent;
 import org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert;
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonList;
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonMap;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.endsWith;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.notNullValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
@@ -576,7 +579,7 @@ public void testParseDoSectionAllowedWarnings() throws Exception {
         assertThat(e.getMessage(), equalTo("the warning [foo] was both allowed and expected"));
     }
 
-    public void testNodeSelectorByVersion() throws IOException {
+    public void testNodeSelectorByVersionRange() throws IOException {
         parser = createParser(YamlXContent.yamlXContent, """
             node_selector:
                 version: 5.2.0-6.0.0
@@ -626,6 +629,28 @@ public void testNodeSelectorByVersion() throws IOException {
         }
     }
 
+    public void testNodeSelectorByVersionRangeFailsWithNonSemanticVersion() throws IOException {
+        parser = createParser(YamlXContent.yamlXContent, """
+            node_selector:
+                version: 5.2.0-6.0.0
+            indices.get_field_mapping:
+                index: test_index""");
+
+        DoSection doSection = DoSection.parse(parser);
+        assertNotSame(NodeSelector.ANY, doSection.getApiCallSection().getNodeSelector());
+        Node nonSemantic = nodeWithVersion("abddef");
+        List<Node> nodes = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        var exception = expectThrows(
+            XContentParseException.class,
+            () -> doSection.getApiCallSection().getNodeSelector().select(List.of(nonSemantic))
+        );
+        assertThat(
+            exception.getMessage(),
+            endsWith("[version] range node selector expects a semantic version format (x.y.z), but found abddef")
+        );
+    }
+
     public void testNodeSelectorCurrentVersion() throws IOException {
         parser = createParser(YamlXContent.yamlXContent, """
             node_selector:
@@ -638,14 +663,16 @@ public void testNodeSelectorCurrentVersion() throws IOException {
         Node v170 = nodeWithVersion("1.7.0");
         Node v521 = nodeWithVersion("5.2.1");
         Node v550 = nodeWithVersion("5.5.0");
-        Node current = nodeWithVersion(Version.CURRENT.toString());
+        Node oldCurrent = nodeWithVersion(Version.CURRENT.toString());
+        Node newCurrent = nodeWithVersion(Build.current().version());
         List<Node> nodes = new ArrayList<>();
         nodes.add(v170);
         nodes.add(v521);
         nodes.add(v550);
-        nodes.add(current);
+        nodes.add(oldCurrent);
+        nodes.add(newCurrent);
         doSection.getApiCallSection().getNodeSelector().select(nodes);
-        assertEquals(List.of(current), nodes);
+        assertEquals(List.of(oldCurrent, newCurrent), nodes);
     }
 
     private static Node nodeWithVersion(String version) {