diff --git a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/10_basic.yml b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/10_basic.yml
index 1c5b82468cc..dc91f63420c 100644
--- a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/10_basic.yml
+++ b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/10_basic.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 ---
 "Response format":
+
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 6.99.99"
+      reason: the ranking evaluation feature is only available on 7.0
+
   - do:
      indices.create:
          index: foo
@@ -84,6 +89,10 @@
 ---
 "Mean Reciprocal Rank":
 
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 6.99.99"
+      reason: the ranking evaluation feature is only available on 7.0
+
   - do:
      indices.create:
          index: foo
diff --git a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/20_dcg.yml b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/20_dcg.yml
index c6c1c87e753..37c0b5897f5 100644
--- a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/20_dcg.yml
+++ b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/20_dcg.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 ---
 "Response format":
 
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 6.99.99"
+      reason: the ranking evaluation feature is only available on 7.0
+
   - do:
       index:
         index:   foo
diff --git a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/30_failures.yml b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/30_failures.yml
index 130da28f3b1..55efcdd104a 100644
--- a/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/30_failures.yml
+++ b/modules/rank-eval/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank_eval/30_failures.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 ---
 "Response format":
 
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 6.99.99"
+      reason: the ranking evaluation feature is only available on 7.0
+
   - do:
       index:
         index:   foo
diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-rank-eval-with-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank-eval/30_template.yml b/qa/smoke-test-rank-eval-with-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank-eval/30_template.yml
index f6e77115a23..0a59b7d0733 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-rank-eval-with-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank-eval/30_template.yml
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-rank-eval-with-mustache/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/rank-eval/30_template.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 ---
 "Template request":
+
+  - skip:
+      version: " - 6.99.99"
+      reason: the ranking evaluation feature is only available on 7.0
+
   - do:
      indices.create:
          index: foo