diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/functional_test_runner.ts b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/functional_test_runner.ts
index f12e265f36630..1b682bfb6f456 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/functional_test_runner.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/functional_test_runner.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ export class FunctionalTestRunner {
 
         if (!this.esVersion.eql(esInfo.version.number)) {
           throw new Error(
-            `ES reports a version number "${esInfo.version.number}" which doesn't match supplied es version "${this.esVersion}"`
+            `ES reports a version number "${
+              esInfo.version.number
+            }" which doesn't match supplied es version "${this.esVersion.toString()}"`
           );
         }
       }
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/es_version.ts b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/es_version.ts
index 7ef5764fcdd4a..8b3acde47a4dc 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/es_version.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/es_version.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ export class EsVersion {
     this.parsed = parsed;
   }
 
+  toString() {
+    return this.parsed.version;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Determine if the ES version matches a semver range, like >=7 or ^8.1.0
    */
@@ -45,6 +49,7 @@ export class EsVersion {
    * Determine if the ES version matches a specific version, ignores things like -SNAPSHOT
    */
   eql(version: string) {
-    return semver.compareLoose(this.parsed, version) === 0;
+    const other = semver.coerce(version);
+    return other && semver.compareLoose(this.parsed, other) === 0;
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/mocha/filter_suites.ts b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/mocha/filter_suites.ts
index 725b930791457..148b074b82969 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/mocha/filter_suites.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/mocha/filter_suites.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export function filterSuites({ log, mocha, include, exclude, esVersion }: Option
     suite.suites.reduce((acc, s) => acc.concat(collectTests(s)), suite.tests);
 
   // traverse the test graph and exclude any tests which don't meet their esVersionRequirement
-  log.info('Only running suites which are compatible with ES version', esVersion);
+  log.info('Only running suites which are compatible with ES version', esVersion.toString());
   (function recurse(parentSuite: SuiteInternal) {
     const children = parentSuite.suites;
     parentSuite.suites = [];