diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index e7dbd2c5..40819857 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import org.opensearch.gradle.test.RestIntegTestTask
 
 buildscript {
     ext {
-        System.setProperty("OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD", "myStrongPassword123!")
         isSnapshot = "true" == System.getProperty("build.snapshot", "true")
         opensearch_version = System.getProperty("opensearch.version", "3.0.0-SNAPSHOT")
         buildVersionQualifier = System.getProperty("build.version_qualifier", "")
@@ -429,7 +428,7 @@ def configureCluster(OpenSearchCluster cluster, Boolean securityEnabled) {
         }
         CrossClusterWaitForHttpResource wait = new CrossClusterWaitForHttpResource(protocol, cluster.getFirstNode().getHttpSocketURI(), cluster.nodes.size())
         wait.setUsername("admin")
-        wait.setPassword(System.getProperty("OPENSEARCH_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD"))
+        wait.setPassword("admin")
         return wait.wait(500)
     }
 
diff --git a/scripts/integtest.sh b/scripts/integtest.sh
index 464108c7..f967dc8a 100644
--- a/scripts/integtest.sh
+++ b/scripts/integtest.sh
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ while getopts ":h:b:p:t:e:s:c:v:" arg; do
             CREDENTIAL=$OPTARG
             ;;
         v)
-            # Do nothing as we're not consuming this param.
+            OPENSEARCH_VERSION=$OPTARG
             ;;
         :)
             echo "-${OPTARG} requires an argument"
@@ -70,15 +70,19 @@ then
   SECURITY_ENABLED="true"
 fi
 
-IFS='.' read -ra version_array <<< "$OPENSEARCH_VERSION"
+OPENSEARCH_REQUIRED_VERSION="2.12.0"
 
 if [ -z "$CREDENTIAL" ]
 then
   # Starting in 2.12.0, security demo configuration script requires an initial admin password
-  if (( ${version_array[0]} > 2 || (${version_array[0]} == 2 && ${version_array[1]} >= 12) )); then
-    CREDENTIAL="admin:myStrongPassword123!"
-  else
+  # Pick the minimum of two versions
+  VERSION_TO_COMPARE=`echo $OPENSEARCH_REQUIRED_VERSION $OPENSEARCH_VERSION | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -V | uniq | head -n 1`
+  # Check if the compared version is not equal to the required version.
+  # If it is not equal, it means the current version is older.
+  if [ "$VERSION_TO_COMPARE" != "$OPENSEARCH_REQUIRED_VERSION" ]; then
     CREDENTIAL="admin:admin"
+  else
+    CREDENTIAL="admin:myStrongPassword123!"
   fi
 fi
 
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/MultiClusterRestTestCase.kt b/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/MultiClusterRestTestCase.kt
index eca8750f..090bdf00 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/MultiClusterRestTestCase.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/org/opensearch/replication/MultiClusterRestTestCase.kt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.apache.hc.core5.http.message.BasicHeader
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.io.entity.StringEntity
 import org.apache.hc.core5.ssl.SSLContexts
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.io.entity.EntityUtils
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http2.HttpVersionPolicy
 import org.apache.hc.core5.util.Timeout
 import org.apache.lucene.util.SetOnce
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.node.tasks.list.ListTasksRequest
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ abstract class MultiClusterRestTestCase : OpenSearchTestCase() {
 
             val builder = RestClient.builder(*httpHosts.toTypedArray()).setHttpClientConfigCallback { httpAsyncClientBuilder ->
                 httpAsyncClientBuilder.setConnectionManager(connManager)
+                httpAsyncClientBuilder.setVersionPolicy(HttpVersionPolicy.FORCE_HTTP_1)
             }
             configureClient(builder, getClusterSettings(clusterName), securityEnabled)
             builder.setStrictDeprecationMode(false)