diff --git a/athena-federation-sdk/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/athena/connector/lambda/handlers/CompositeHandler.java b/athena-federation-sdk/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/athena/connector/lambda/handlers/CompositeHandler.java
index 78c4f51ba6..a3af2e5b90 100644
--- a/athena-federation-sdk/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/athena/connector/lambda/handlers/CompositeHandler.java
+++ b/athena-federation-sdk/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/athena/connector/lambda/handlers/CompositeHandler.java
@@ -95,18 +95,27 @@ public final void handleRequest(InputStream inputStream, OutputStream outputStre
             throws IOException
     {
         try (BlockAllocatorImpl allocator = new BlockAllocatorImpl()) {
-            ObjectMapper objectMapper = VersionedObjectMapperFactory.create(allocator, SerDeVersion.SERDE_VERSION);
-            FederationRequest rawReq;
+            int resolvedSerDeVersion = SerDeVersion.SERDE_VERSION;
             byte[] allInputBytes = com.google.common.io.ByteStreams.toByteArray(inputStream);
-
-            try {
-                rawReq = objectMapper.readValue(allInputBytes, FederationRequest.class);
+            FederationRequest rawReq = null;
+            ObjectMapper objectMapper = null;
+            while (resolvedSerDeVersion >= 1) {
+                try {
+                    objectMapper = VersionedObjectMapperFactory.create(allocator, resolvedSerDeVersion);
+                    rawReq = objectMapper.readValue(allInputBytes, FederationRequest.class);
+                    break;
+                }
+                catch (IllegalStateException e) { // if client has not upgraded to our latest, fallback to lower version
+                    logger.warn("Client's SerDe mis-matched with connector version:, attempt with lower version: '{}'", --resolvedSerDeVersion, e);
+                }
             }
-            catch (IllegalStateException e) { // if client has not upgraded to our latest, fallback to v4
-                logger.warn("Client's SerDe is not upgraded to latest version, defaulting to V4:", e);
-                objectMapper = VersionedObjectMapperFactory.create(allocator, 4);
-                rawReq = objectMapper.readValue(allInputBytes, FederationRequest.class);
+
+            if (rawReq == null || objectMapper == null) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(String.format("FederationRequest/ObjectMapper is null with SerDeVersion: '%d'", resolvedSerDeVersion));
             }
+
+            logger.info("Parsing request with resolvedSerDeVersion: '{}', connector SerDeVersion: '{}'", resolvedSerDeVersion, SerDeVersion.SERDE_VERSION);
+
             if (rawReq instanceof MetadataRequest) {
                 ((MetadataRequest) rawReq).setContext(context);
             }