diff --git a/kedro-airflow/RELEASE.md b/kedro-airflow/RELEASE.md
index 32f705069..e7ab78695 100755
--- a/kedro-airflow/RELEASE.md
+++ b/kedro-airflow/RELEASE.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 * Added support for Python 3.11
 * Added the `--all` CLI argument to `kedro-airflow` to convert registered all pipelines at once.
 * Simplify the output of the `kedro airflow create` command.
+* Fixed compatibility of `kedro-airflow` with older versions of the config loaders (`kedro<=0.18.2`).
 
 ## Community contributions
 Many thanks to the following Kedroids for contributing PRs to this release:
diff --git a/kedro-airflow/kedro_airflow/plugin.py b/kedro-airflow/kedro_airflow/plugin.py
index ba998dabc..cb20a9d38 100644
--- a/kedro-airflow/kedro_airflow/plugin.py
+++ b/kedro-airflow/kedro_airflow/plugin.py
@@ -36,17 +36,22 @@ def airflow_commands():
 
 
 def _load_config(context: KedroContext) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    # Backwards compatibility for ConfigLoader that does not support `config_patterns`
+    config_loader = context.config_loader
+    if not hasattr(config_loader, "config_patterns"):
+        return config_loader.get("airflow*", "airflow/**")
+
     # Set the default pattern for `airflow` if not provided in `settings.py`
-    if "airflow" not in context.config_loader.config_patterns.keys():
-        context.config_loader.config_patterns.update(  # pragma: no cover
+    if "airflow" not in config_loader.config_patterns.keys():
+        config_loader.config_patterns.update(  # pragma: no cover
             {"airflow": ["airflow*", "airflow/**"]}
         )
 
-    assert "airflow" in context.config_loader.config_patterns.keys()
+    assert "airflow" in config_loader.config_patterns.keys()
 
     # Load the config
     try:
-        return context.config_loader["airflow"]
+        return config_loader["airflow"]
     except MissingConfigException:
         # File does not exist
         return {}
diff --git a/kedro-airflow/tests/test_plugin.py b/kedro-airflow/tests/test_plugin.py
index 1d282f0c3..4c11efd22 100644
--- a/kedro-airflow/tests/test_plugin.py
+++ b/kedro-airflow/tests/test_plugin.py
@@ -5,8 +5,11 @@
 
 import pytest
 import yaml
+from kedro.config import ConfigLoader
+from kedro.framework.context import KedroContext
+from pluggy import PluginManager
 
-from kedro_airflow.plugin import commands
+from kedro_airflow.plugin import _load_config, commands
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -264,3 +267,22 @@ def test_create_airflow_all_and_pipeline(cli_runner, metadata):
         "Error: Invalid value: The `--all` and `--pipeline` option are mutually exclusive."
         in result.stdout
     )
+
+
+def test_config_loader_backwards_compatibility(cli_runner, metadata):
+    # Emulate ConfigLoader in kedro <= 0.18.2
+    conf_source = Path.cwd() / "conf"
+    config_loader = ConfigLoader(conf_source=conf_source)
+    del config_loader.config_patterns
+    context = KedroContext(
+        config_loader=config_loader,
+        hook_manager=PluginManager(project_name=metadata.project_name),
+        package_name=metadata.package_name,
+        project_path=metadata.project_path,
+    )
+
+    config = _load_config(context)
+    assert config == {
+        "default": {"owner": "again someone else"},
+        "ds": {"owner": "finally someone else"},
+    }