diff --git a/test/smoke/src/main.ts b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
index e2657a9e4df95..ef9e04f39bfd4 100644
--- a/test/smoke/src/main.ts
+++ b/test/smoke/src/main.ts
@@ -263,30 +263,31 @@ async function setupRepository(): Promise<void> {
 async function ensureStableCode(): Promise<void> {
 	let stableCodePath = opts['stable-build'];
 	if (!stableCodePath) {
-		const { major, minor } = parseVersion(version!);
-		const majorMinorVersion = `${major}.${minor - 1}`;
-		const versionsReq = await retry(() => measureAndLog(() => fetch('https://update.code.visualstudio.com/api/releases/stable', { headers: { 'x-api-version': '2' } }), 'versionReq', logger), 1000, 20);
+		const current = parseVersion(version!);
+		const versionsReq = await retry(() => measureAndLog(() => fetch('https://update.code.visualstudio.com/api/releases/stable'), 'versionReq', logger), 1000, 20);
 
 		if (!versionsReq.ok) {
 			throw new Error('Could not fetch releases from update server');
 		}
 
-		const versions: { version: string }[] = await measureAndLog(() => versionsReq.json(), 'versionReq.json()', logger);
-		const prefix = `${majorMinorVersion}.`;
-		const previousVersion = versions.find(v => v.version.startsWith(prefix));
+		const versions: string[] = await measureAndLog(() => versionsReq.json(), 'versionReq.json()', logger);
+		const stableVersion = versions.find(raw => {
+			const version = parseVersion(raw);
+			return version.major < current.major || (version.major === current.major && version.minor < current.minor);
+		});
 
-		if (!previousVersion) {
-			throw new Error(`Could not find suitable stable version ${majorMinorVersion}`);
+		if (!stableVersion) {
+			throw new Error(`Could not find suitable stable version for ${version}`);
 		}
 
-		logger.log(`Found VS Code v${version}, downloading previous VS Code version ${previousVersion.version}...`);
+		logger.log(`Found VS Code v${version}, downloading previous VS Code version ${stableVersion}...`);
 
 		let lastProgressMessage: string | undefined = undefined;
 		let lastProgressReportedAt = 0;
 		const stableCodeDestination = path.join(testDataPath, 's');
 		const stableCodeExecutable = await retry(() => measureAndLog(() => vscodetest.download({
 			cachePath: stableCodeDestination,
-			version: previousVersion.version,
+			version: stableVersion,
 			extractSync: true,
 			reporter: {
 				report: report => {