diff --git a/qa/build.gradle b/qa/build.gradle
index ccaba4e24..0ce535ea0 100644
--- a/qa/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/build.gradle
@@ -145,8 +145,8 @@ task zipBwcMlCommonsPlugin(type: Zip) {
 
 // Task to zip knn plugin from archive
 task zipBwcKnnPlugin(type: Zip) {
-    dependsOn "zipBwcMlCommonsPlugin"
     dependsOn "pullKnnBwcPlugin"
+    dependsOn "zipBwcMlCommonsPlugin"
     from(java.nio.file.Path.of(tmp_dir.absolutePath, "opensearch-knn"))
     destinationDirectory = tmp_dir
     archiveFileName = "opensearch-knn-${neural_search_bwc_version_no_qualifier}.zip"
diff --git a/qa/restart-upgrade/build.gradle b/qa/restart-upgrade/build.gradle
index c7bd6ae74..d585e388d 100644
--- a/qa/restart-upgrade/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/restart-upgrade/build.gradle
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ String default_bwc_version = System.getProperty("bwc.version")
 String neural_search_bwc_version = System.getProperty("tests.bwc.version", default_bwc_version)
 boolean isSnapshot = neural_search_bwc_version.contains("-SNAPSHOT")
 String baseName = "neuralSearchBwcCluster-restart"
+String knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier = isSnapshot ? neural_search_bwc_version - "-SNAPSHOT" : neural_search_bwc_version
 
 List<Provider<RegularFile>> plugins = [provider(new Callable<RegularFile>(){
     @Override
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ List<Provider<RegularFile>> plugins = [provider(new Callable<RegularFile>(){
     }
 }), rootProject.tasks.bundlePlugin.archiveFile]
 
-// Creates a test cluster of previous version and loads neuralsearch plugin of bwcVersion
+// Creates a test cluster of previous version and loads k-NN plugin of bwcVersion
 testClusters {
     "${baseName}" {
         testDistribution = "ARCHIVE"
@@ -48,6 +49,8 @@ testClusters {
         plugin(project.tasks.zipBwcPlugin.archiveFile)
         setting 'path.repo', "${buildDir}/cluster/shared/repo/${baseName}"
         setting 'http.content_type.required', 'true'
+        environment "LD_LIBRARY_PATH", "${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/knnlib;${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/lib"
+        systemProperty "java.library.path", "${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/knnlib:${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/lib"
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle b/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
index e7f959dc5..f2dbb80f8 100644
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ apply from : "$rootDir/qa/build.gradle"
 String default_bwc_version = System.getProperty("bwc.version")
 String neural_search_bwc_version = System.getProperty("tests.bwc.version", default_bwc_version)
 boolean isSnapshot = neural_search_bwc_version.contains("-SNAPSHOT")
+String knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier = isSnapshot ? neural_search_bwc_version - "-SNAPSHOT" : neural_search_bwc_version
 String baseName = "neuralSearchBwcCluster-rolling"
 
 List<Provider<RegularFile>> plugins = [provider(new Callable<RegularFile>(){
@@ -49,6 +50,8 @@ testClusters {
         jvmArgs("-Xms1g", "-Xmx4g")
         setting 'path.repo', "${buildDir}/cluster/shared/repo/${baseName}"
         setting 'http.content_type.required', 'true'
+        environment "LD_LIBRARY_PATH", "${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/knnlib;${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/lib"
+        systemProperty "java.library.path", "${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/knnlib:${buildDir}/testclusters/${baseName}-0/distro/${knn_bwc_version_no_qualifier}-ARCHIVE/plugins/opensearch-knn/lib"
     }
 }