diff --git a/.changelog/17625.txt b/.changelog/17625.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fb0a16dacdcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/17625.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+client: Fixed a bug where Nomad incorrectly write to memory swappiness cgroup on old kernels
+```
diff --git a/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux.go b/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux.go
index 7727b2a431e4..85aff63cd3b0 100644
--- a/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux.go
+++ b/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/pointer"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/uuid"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/cgroups"
 	lcc "github.com/opencontainers/runc/libcontainer/configs"
@@ -148,3 +149,24 @@ func CopyCpuset(source, destination string) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// MaybeDisableMemorySwappiness will disable memory swappiness, if that controller
+// is available. Always the case for cgroups v2, but is not always the case on
+// very old kernels with cgroups v1.
+func MaybeDisableMemorySwappiness() *uint64 {
+	bypass := (*uint64)(nil)
+	zero := pointer.Of[uint64](0)
+
+	// cgroups v2 always set zero
+	if UseV2 {
+		return zero
+	}
+
+	// cgroups v1 check if the root and swappiness interface exist
+	_, err := os.Stat("/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/memory.swappiness")
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return bypass
+	}
+
+	return zero
+}
diff --git a/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux_test.go b/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux_test.go
index 8047b5ccc5a5..9c51e3ef3958 100644
--- a/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux_test.go
+++ b/client/lib/cgutil/cgutil_linux_test.go
@@ -130,3 +130,12 @@ func TestUtil_CopyCpuset(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, "0-1", strings.TrimSpace(value))
 	})
 }
+
+func TestUtil_MaybeDisableMemorySwappiness(t *testing.T) {
+	ci.Parallel(t)
+
+	// will return 0 on any reasonable kernel (both cgroups v1 and v2)
+	value := MaybeDisableMemorySwappiness()
+	must.NotNil(t, value)
+	must.Eq(t, 0, *value)
+}
diff --git a/drivers/shared/executor/executor_linux.go b/drivers/shared/executor/executor_linux.go
index 1d9b352fba8a..d0c4a743b73d 100644
--- a/drivers/shared/executor/executor_linux.go
+++ b/drivers/shared/executor/executor_linux.go
@@ -689,9 +689,8 @@ func configureCgroups(cfg *lconfigs.Config, command *ExecCommand) error {
 		cfg.Cgroups.Resources.Memory = memHard * 1024 * 1024
 		cfg.Cgroups.Resources.MemoryReservation = memSoft * 1024 * 1024
 
-		// Disable swap to avoid issues on the machine
-		var memSwappiness uint64
-		cfg.Cgroups.Resources.MemorySwappiness = &memSwappiness
+		// Disable swap if possible, to avoid issues on the machine
+		cfg.Cgroups.Resources.MemorySwappiness = cgutil.MaybeDisableMemorySwappiness()
 	}
 
 	cpuShares := res.Cpu.CpuShares