diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e_docker.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e_docker.yaml
index b6af03d553..f3dae11b44 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e_docker.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e_docker.yaml
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ permissions: {}
 jobs:
   test-docker:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    # TODO: remove this when the job gets stable
-    continue-on-error: true
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Code
         uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4
@@ -111,6 +109,7 @@ jobs:
           DOCKER_HOST="unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
           DOCKER_NETWORK_NAME="kind"
           CONTAINER_RUNTIME="${{ inputs.container_runtime }}"
+          DOCKER_API_VERSION="1.44"
           EOF
           # For debugging
           cat docker.properties
diff --git a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/e2e/docker_common.go b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/e2e/docker_common.go
index 217f8fbdce..860f9d561e 100644
--- a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/e2e/docker_common.go
+++ b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/e2e/docker_common.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types"
+	"github.com/docker/docker/api/types/container"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/client"
 )
 
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@ func (c DockerAssert) DefaultTimeout() time.Duration {
 }
 
 func (l DockerAssert) HasPodVM(t *testing.T, id string) {
-	conn, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+	conn, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv, client.WithAPIVersionNegotiation())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
 	// Check if the container is running
-	containers, err := conn.ContainerList(context.Background(), types.ContainerListOptions{})
+	containers, err := conn.ContainerList(context.Background(), container.ListOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_common.go b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_common.go
index 374c2df96d..c1dcbeb56c 100644
--- a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_common.go
+++ b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_common.go
@@ -75,8 +75,11 @@ func NewDockerProvisioner(properties map[string]string) (pv.CloudProvisioner, er
 
 	// set environment variables
 	os.Setenv("DOCKER_HOST", DockerProps.DockerHost)
+	if DockerProps.ApiVer != "" {
+		os.Setenv("DOCKER_API_VERSION", DockerProps.ApiVer)
+	}
 
-	conn, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+	conn, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv, client.WithAPIVersionNegotiation())
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("Error creating the Docker client: %v", err)
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_docker.properties b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_docker.properties
index d5d5f094d8..1fbf9d6026 100644
--- a/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_docker.properties
+++ b/src/cloud-api-adaptor/test/provisioner/docker/provision_docker.properties
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ CLUSTER_NAME="peer-pods"
 DOCKER_HOST="unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
 DOCKER_PODVM_IMAGE="quay.io/confidential-containers/podvm-docker-image"
 DOCKER_NETWORK_NAME="kind"
+DOCKER_API_VERSION="1.44"
 CAA_IMAGE=""
 CAA_IMAGE_TAG=""
 
diff --git a/src/cloud-providers/docker/manager.go b/src/cloud-providers/docker/manager.go
index e5920ef80e..684b3db0ea 100644
--- a/src/cloud-providers/docker/manager.go
+++ b/src/cloud-providers/docker/manager.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (_ *Manager) ParseCmd(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
 
 func (m *Manager) LoadEnv() {
 	provider.DefaultToEnv(&dockerCfg.DockerHost, "DOCKER_HOST", "unix:///var/run/docker.sock")
-	provider.DefaultToEnv(&dockerCfg.DockerAPIVersion, "DOCKER_API_VERSION", "1.40")
+	provider.DefaultToEnv(&dockerCfg.DockerAPIVersion, "DOCKER_API_VERSION", "1.44")
 	provider.DefaultToEnv(&dockerCfg.DockerCertPath, "DOCKER_CERT_PATH", "")
 	dockerTLSVerify := os.Getenv("DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY")
 	if dockerTLSVerify == "1" || dockerTLSVerify == "true" {
diff --git a/src/cloud-providers/docker/provider.go b/src/cloud-providers/docker/provider.go
index 40142adabd..d676613a49 100644
--- a/src/cloud-providers/docker/provider.go
+++ b/src/cloud-providers/docker/provider.go
@@ -32,11 +32,21 @@ func NewProvider(config *Config) (*dockerProvider, error) {
 
 	logger.Printf("docker config: %#v", config)
 
-	cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv)
+	cli, err := client.NewClientWithOpts(client.FromEnv, client.WithVersion(config.DockerAPIVersion))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// Log Docker client and server versions for debugging
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	serverVersion, err := cli.ServerVersion(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.Printf("Warning: failed to get Docker server version: %v", err)
+	} else {
+		logger.Printf("Docker server version: %s, API version: %s", serverVersion.Version, serverVersion.APIVersion)
+	}
+	logger.Printf("Docker client API version: %s", cli.ClientVersion())
+
 	// Create the data directory if it doesn't exist
 	err = os.MkdirAll(config.DataDir, 0755)
 	if err != nil {