diff --git a/testkit/src/main/java/akka/kafka/testkit/internal/KafkaContainerCluster.java b/testkit/src/main/java/akka/kafka/testkit/internal/KafkaContainerCluster.java
index f2e10d5e8..0fc10a41a 100644
--- a/testkit/src/main/java/akka/kafka/testkit/internal/KafkaContainerCluster.java
+++ b/testkit/src/main/java/akka/kafka/testkit/internal/KafkaContainerCluster.java
@@ -341,21 +341,26 @@ public void stop() {
 class Version implements Comparable<Version> {
 
   private String version;
+  private boolean comparable = true;
 
   public final String get() {
     return this.version;
   }
 
+  public final boolean isComparable() {
+    return this.comparable;
+  }
+
   public Version(String version) {
     if (version == null) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Version can not be null");
-    if (!version.matches("[0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)*"))
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid version format");
+    if (!version.matches("[0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)*")) this.comparable = false;
     this.version = version;
   }
 
   @Override
   public int compareTo(Version that) {
     if (that == null) return 1;
+    if (!this.comparable || !that.isComparable()) return 1;
     String[] thisParts = this.get().split("\\.");
     String[] thatParts = that.get().split("\\.");
     int length = Math.max(thisParts.length, thatParts.length);