diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.test.ts
index ca0fcd3c52c9a..dc61f4898478d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.test.ts
@@ -135,4 +135,35 @@ describe('Ingest Manager - isAgentUpgradeable', () => {
       true
     );
   });
+  it('returns false if agent reports upgradeable, with agent snapshot version === kibana version', () => {
+    expect(
+      isAgentUpgradeable(getAgent({ version: '7.9.0-SNAPSHOT', upgradeable: true }), '7.9.0')
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('returns false if agent reports upgradeable, with agent version === kibana snapshot version', () => {
+    expect(
+      isAgentUpgradeable(getAgent({ version: '7.9.0', upgradeable: true }), '7.9.0-SNAPSHOT')
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('returns true if agent reports upgradeable, with agent snapshot version < kibana snapshot version', () => {
+    expect(
+      isAgentUpgradeable(
+        getAgent({ version: '7.9.0-SNAPSHOT', upgradeable: true }),
+        '8.0.0-SNAPSHOT'
+      )
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+  it('returns false if agent reports upgradeable, with agent snapshot version === kibana snapshot version', () => {
+    expect(
+      isAgentUpgradeable(
+        getAgent({ version: '8.0.0-SNAPSHOT', upgradeable: true }),
+        '8.0.0-SNAPSHOT'
+      )
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('returns true if agent reports upgradeable, with agent version < kibana snapshot version', () => {
+    expect(
+      isAgentUpgradeable(getAgent({ version: '7.9.0', upgradeable: true }), '8.0.0-SNAPSHOT')
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.ts
index 7b59fb7b22825..b93e5d99543f6 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/common/services/is_agent_upgradeable.ts
@@ -14,9 +14,12 @@ export function isAgentUpgradeable(agent: Agent, kibanaVersion: string) {
     return false;
   }
   if (agent.unenrollment_started_at || agent.unenrolled_at) return false;
-  const kibanaVersionParsed = semver.parse(kibanaVersion);
-  const agentVersionParsed = semver.parse(agentVersion);
-  if (!agentVersionParsed || !kibanaVersionParsed) return false;
   if (!agent.local_metadata.elastic.agent.upgradeable) return false;
-  return semver.lt(agentVersionParsed, kibanaVersionParsed);
+
+  // make sure versions are only the number before comparison
+  const agentVersionNumber = semver.coerce(agentVersion);
+  if (!agentVersionNumber) throw new Error('agent version is invalid');
+  const kibanaVersionNumber = semver.coerce(kibanaVersion);
+  if (!kibanaVersionNumber) throw new Error('kibana version is invalid');
+  return semver.lt(agentVersionNumber, kibanaVersionNumber);
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/routes/agent/upgrade_handler.ts b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/routes/agent/upgrade_handler.ts
index 9c6b50b6d8f09..60dc7c6ee5f2b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/routes/agent/upgrade_handler.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/ingest_manager/server/routes/agent/upgrade_handler.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 import { RequestHandler } from 'src/core/server';
 import { TypeOf } from '@kbn/config-schema';
+import semver from 'semver';
 import {
   AgentSOAttributes,
   PostAgentUpgradeResponse,
@@ -26,17 +27,18 @@ export const postAgentUpgradeHandler: RequestHandler<
 > = async (context, request, response) => {
   const soClient = context.core.savedObjects.client;
   const { version, source_uri: sourceUri } = request.body;
-
-  // temporarily only allow upgrading to the same version as the installed kibana version
   const kibanaVersion = appContextService.getKibanaVersion();
-  if (kibanaVersion !== version) {
+  try {
+    checkVersionIsSame(version, kibanaVersion);
+  } catch (err) {
     return response.customError({
       statusCode: 400,
       body: {
-        message: `cannot upgrade agent to ${version} because it is different than the installed kibana version ${kibanaVersion}`,
+        message: err.message,
       },
     });
   }
+
   const agentSO = await soClient.get<AgentSOAttributes>(
     AGENT_SAVED_OBJECT_TYPE,
     request.params.agentId
@@ -82,14 +84,14 @@ export const postBulkAgentsUpgradeHandler: RequestHandler<
 > = async (context, request, response) => {
   const soClient = context.core.savedObjects.client;
   const { version, source_uri: sourceUri, agents } = request.body;
-
-  // temporarily only allow upgrading to the same version as the installed kibana version
   const kibanaVersion = appContextService.getKibanaVersion();
-  if (kibanaVersion !== version) {
+  try {
+    checkVersionIsSame(version, kibanaVersion);
+  } catch (err) {
     return response.customError({
       statusCode: 400,
       body: {
-        message: `cannot upgrade agent to ${version} because it is different than the installed kibana version ${kibanaVersion}`,
+        message: err.message,
       },
     });
   }
@@ -115,3 +117,17 @@ export const postBulkAgentsUpgradeHandler: RequestHandler<
     return defaultIngestErrorHandler({ error, response });
   }
 };
+
+export const checkVersionIsSame = (version: string, kibanaVersion: string) => {
+  // get version number only in case "-SNAPSHOT" is in it
+  const kibanaVersionNumber = semver.coerce(kibanaVersion)?.version;
+  if (!kibanaVersionNumber) throw new Error(`kibanaVersion ${kibanaVersionNumber} is not valid`);
+  const versionToUpgradeNumber = semver.coerce(version)?.version;
+  if (!versionToUpgradeNumber)
+    throw new Error(`version to upgrade ${versionToUpgradeNumber} is not valid`);
+  // temporarily only allow upgrading to the same version as the installed kibana version
+  if (kibanaVersionNumber !== versionToUpgradeNumber)
+    throw new Error(
+      `cannot upgrade agent to ${versionToUpgradeNumber} because it is different than the installed kibana version ${kibanaVersionNumber}`
+    );
+};
diff --git a/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/fleet/agents/upgrade.ts b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/fleet/agents/upgrade.ts
index 055877c19c82f..c5426168eb78f 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/fleet/agents/upgrade.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/ingest_manager_api_integration/apis/fleet/agents/upgrade.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ import { setupIngest } from './services';
 import { skipIfNoDockerRegistry } from '../../../helpers';
 import { AGENT_SAVED_OBJECT_TYPE } from '../../../../../plugins/ingest_manager/common';
 
+const makeSnapshotVersion = (version: string) => {
+  return version.endsWith('-SNAPSHOT') ? version : `${version}-SNAPSHOT`;
+};
+
 export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
   const { getService } = providerContext;
   const supertest = getService('supertest');
@@ -48,6 +52,43 @@ export default function (providerContext: FtrProviderContext) {
       const res = await supertest.get(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1`).set('kbn-xsrf', 'xxx');
       expect(typeof res.body.item.upgrade_started_at).to.be('string');
     });
+    it('should respond 400 if upgrading agent with version the same as snapshot version', async () => {
+      const kibanaVersion = await kibanaServer.version.get();
+      const kibanaVersionSnapshot = makeSnapshotVersion(kibanaVersion);
+      await kibanaServer.savedObjects.update({
+        id: 'agent1',
+        type: AGENT_SAVED_OBJECT_TYPE,
+        attributes: {
+          local_metadata: { elastic: { agent: { upgradeable: true, version: kibanaVersion } } },
+        },
+      });
+      await supertest
+        .post(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1/upgrade`)
+        .set('kbn-xsrf', 'xxx')
+        .send({
+          version: kibanaVersionSnapshot,
+        })
+        .expect(400);
+    });
+    it('should respond 200 if upgrading agent with version less than kibana snapshot version', async () => {
+      const kibanaVersion = await kibanaServer.version.get();
+      const kibanaVersionSnapshot = makeSnapshotVersion(kibanaVersion);
+
+      await kibanaServer.savedObjects.update({
+        id: 'agent1',
+        type: AGENT_SAVED_OBJECT_TYPE,
+        attributes: {
+          local_metadata: { elastic: { agent: { upgradeable: true, version: '0.0.0' } } },
+        },
+      });
+      await supertest
+        .post(`/api/fleet/agents/agent1/upgrade`)
+        .set('kbn-xsrf', 'xxx')
+        .send({
+          version: kibanaVersionSnapshot,
+        })
+        .expect(200);
+    });
     it('should respond 200 to upgrade agent and update the agent SO without source_uri', async () => {
       const kibanaVersion = await kibanaServer.version.get();
       await kibanaServer.savedObjects.update({