diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/cluster.go b/test/e2e/utils/cluster.go
index 50240f755..445fc6d6e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/cluster.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/cluster.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ var (
 	metadataPrefetchMinimumVersion              = version.MustParseGeneric("1.32.0")
 	longMountOptionsMinimumVersion              = version.MustParseGeneric("1.32.0")
 	supportsMachineTypeAutoConfigMinimumVersion = version.MustParseGeneric("1.33.0")
+	sidecarBucketAccessCheckMinimumVersion      = version.MustParseGeneric("1.34.0")
 )
 
 // gcloudCommand constructs an exec.Cmd for a gcloud command,
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/handler.go b/test/e2e/utils/handler.go
index f4840233f..46137cf79 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/handler.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/handler.go
@@ -199,8 +199,14 @@ func Handle(testParams *TestParameters) error {
 	if err = os.Setenv(TestWithSAVolumeInjectionEnvVar, strconv.FormatBool(supportSAVolInjection)); err != nil {
 		klog.Fatalf(`env variable "%s" could not be set: %v`, TestWithSAVolumeInjectionEnvVar, err)
 	}
-	if err = os.Setenv(TestWithSidecarBucketAccessCheckEnvVar, strconv.FormatBool(testParams.EnableSidecarBucketAccessCheck)); err != nil {
-		klog.Fatalf(`env variable "%s" could not be set: %v`, TestWithSidecarBucketAccessCheckEnvVar, err)
+	supportSidecarBucketAccessCheck, err := ClusterAtLeastMinVersion(testParams.GkeClusterVersion, testParams.GkeNodeVersion, sidecarBucketAccessCheckMinimumVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		klog.Fatalf(`managed driver version for sidecar bucket access check support could not be determined: %v`, err)
+	}
+	if !testParams.UseGKEManagedDriver || (testParams.UseGKEManagedDriver && supportSidecarBucketAccessCheck) {
+		if err = os.Setenv(TestWithSidecarBucketAccessCheckEnvVar, strconv.FormatBool(testParams.EnableSidecarBucketAccessCheck)); err != nil {
+			klog.Fatalf(`env variable "%s" could not be set: %v`, TestWithSidecarBucketAccessCheckEnvVar, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	supportsMachineTypeAutoConfig, err := ClusterAtLeastMinVersion(testParams.GkeClusterVersion, testParams.GkeNodeVersion, supportsMachineTypeAutoConfigMinimumVersion)