diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/FinalizeSubCommand.java b/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/FinalizeSubCommand.java
index 7f36b84b93e7..411955951df6 100644
--- a/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/FinalizeSubCommand.java
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/FinalizeSubCommand.java
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdds.cli.AbstractSubcommand;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hdds.cli.HddsVersionProvider;
+import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.OzoneManagerVersion;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.admin.om.OmAddressOptions;
+import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.client.rpc.RpcClient;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.om.protocol.OzoneManagerProtocol;
 import picocli.CommandLine;
 
@@ -33,18 +35,24 @@
     mixinStandardHelpOptions = true,
     versionProvider = HddsVersionProvider.class
 )
-public class FinalizeSubCommand extends AbstractSubcommand implements Callable<Void> {
+public class FinalizeSubCommand extends AbstractSubcommand implements Callable<Integer> {
 
   @CommandLine.Mixin
   private OmAddressOptions.OptionalServiceIdOrHostMixin omAddressOptions;
 
   @Override
-  public Void call() throws Exception {
+  public Integer call() throws Exception {
     try (OzoneManagerProtocol client = getClient()) {
+      OzoneManagerVersion omVersion = RpcClient.getOmVersion(client.getServiceInfo());
+      if (!OzoneManagerVersion.ZDU.isSupportedBy(omVersion)) {
+        err().println("OM does not support zero downtime upgrade. The cluster should be finalized with " +
+            "`ozone admin om finalizeupgrade`");
+        return 1;
+      }
       client.finalizeUpgrade();
       out().println("Cluster finalization has been started. Monitor progress with `ozone admin upgrade status`");
     }
-    return null;
+    return 0;
   }
 
   protected OzoneManagerProtocol getClient() throws Exception {
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/TestFinalizeSubCommand.java b/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/TestFinalizeSubCommand.java
index 0f7e9f2116ad..a21dca441841 100644
--- a/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/TestFinalizeSubCommand.java
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/cli-admin/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/admin/upgrade/TestFinalizeSubCommand.java
@@ -17,17 +17,25 @@
 
 package org.apache.hadoop.ozone.admin.upgrade;
 
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doNothing;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto.HddsProtos;
+import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.OzoneManagerVersion;
+import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.om.helpers.ServiceInfo;
+import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.om.helpers.ServiceInfoEx;
 import org.apache.hadoop.ozone.om.protocol.OzoneManagerProtocol;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
@@ -42,16 +50,17 @@ public class TestFinalizeSubCommand {
   private static final String DEFAULT_ENCODING = StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name();
 
   private final ByteArrayOutputStream outContent = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+  private final ByteArrayOutputStream errContent = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
   private final PrintStream originalOut = System.out;
+  private final PrintStream originalErr = System.err;
   private FinalizeSubCommand cmd;
   private OzoneManagerProtocol omClient;
 
   @BeforeEach
   public void setup() throws IOException {
     omClient = mock(OzoneManagerProtocol.class);
-
-    // Mock close() to do nothing - needed for try-with-resources
     doNothing().when(omClient).close();
+    when(omClient.getServiceInfo()).thenReturn(serviceInfoWithVersion(OzoneManagerVersion.ZDU));
 
     cmd = new FinalizeSubCommand() {
       @Override
@@ -60,17 +69,19 @@ protected OzoneManagerProtocol getClient() throws Exception {
       }
     };
     System.setOut(new PrintStream(outContent, false, DEFAULT_ENCODING));
+    System.setErr(new PrintStream(errContent, false, DEFAULT_ENCODING));
   }
 
   @AfterEach
   public void tearDown() {
     System.setOut(originalOut);
+    System.setErr(originalErr);
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testCommandRunsAndPrintsOutput() throws Exception {
     new CommandLine(cmd).parseArgs();
-    cmd.call();
+    assertEquals(0, cmd.call());
 
     String output = outContent.toString(DEFAULT_ENCODING);
     assertTrue(output.contains("Cluster finalization has been started"));
@@ -95,4 +106,25 @@ public void testExceptionFromServerIsPropagated() throws Exception {
     // Client must still be closed even when finalizeUpgrade() throws.
     verify(omClient).close();
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testNonZduServerPrintsErrorAndReturnsNonZero() throws Exception {
+    when(omClient.getServiceInfo()).thenReturn(serviceInfoWithVersion(OzoneManagerVersion.DEFAULT_VERSION));
+
+    new CommandLine(cmd).parseArgs();
+    assertEquals(1, cmd.call());
+
+    String errOutput = errContent.toString(DEFAULT_ENCODING);
+    assertTrue(errOutput.contains("OM does not support zero downtime upgrade"));
+    verify(omClient, never()).finalizeUpgrade();
+  }
+
+  private ServiceInfoEx serviceInfoWithVersion(OzoneManagerVersion version) {
+    ServiceInfo serviceInfo = new ServiceInfo.Builder()
+        .setNodeType(HddsProtos.NodeType.OM)
+        .setHostname("localhost")
+        .setOmVersion(version)
+        .build();
+    return new ServiceInfoEx(Collections.singletonList(serviceInfo), "", Collections.emptyList());
+  }
 }