diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/ElasticsearchJavaBasePlugin.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/ElasticsearchJavaBasePlugin.java
index 430c050a190d6..b633c9ec3b03b 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/ElasticsearchJavaBasePlugin.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/ElasticsearchJavaBasePlugin.java
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ public class ElasticsearchJavaBasePlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
 
     @Override
     public void apply(Project project) {
-        project.getRootProject().getPlugins().apply(GlobalBuildInfoPlugin.class);
         // make sure the global build info plugin is applied to the root project
         project.getRootProject().getPluginManager().apply(GlobalBuildInfoPlugin.class);
         buildParams = project.getRootProject().getExtensions().getByType(BuildParameterExtension.class);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/sql/jdbc/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/sql/jdbc/build.gradle
index d1b179f09e403..fd0e43fb23c3c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/sql/jdbc/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/sql/jdbc/build.gradle
@@ -20,11 +20,20 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(':modules:rest-root')
 }
 
-tasks.named("compileJava").configure {
+java {
   targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
   sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 }
 
+tasks.named("compileTestJava").configure {
+  targetCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+  sourceCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+}
+
+tasks.named("test").configure {
+  // reset the unit test classpath as using the shadow jar won't work due to relocated packages
+  classpath = sourceSets.test.runtimeClasspath
+}
 
 tasks.named("shadowJar").configure {
   relocate 'com.fasterxml', 'shadow.fasterxml'
@@ -34,7 +43,3 @@ tasks.named("shadowJar").configure {
   }
 }
 
-tasks.named("test").configure {
-  // reset the unit test classpath as using the shadow jar won't work due to relocated packages
-  classpath = sourceSets.test.runtimeClasspath
-}
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-client/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-client/build.gradle
index 4a20e00666ea4..f52e4b9ed96db 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-client/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-client/build.gradle
@@ -12,11 +12,16 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation(testArtifact(project(xpackModule('core'))))
 }
 
-tasks.named("compileJava").configure {
+java {
   targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
   sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 }
 
+tasks.named("compileTestJava").configure {
+  targetCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+  sourceCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+}
+
 tasks.named('forbiddenApisMain').configure {
   // does not depend on core, so only jdk and http signatures should be checked
   replaceSignatureFiles 'jdk-signatures'
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-proto/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-proto/build.gradle
index de3f3462da85e..da2047c603ccb 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-proto/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/sql/sql-proto/build.gradle
@@ -16,11 +16,16 @@ dependencies {
   }
 }
 
-tasks.named("compileJava").configure {
+java {
   targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
   sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 }
 
+tasks.named("compileTestJava").configure {
+  targetCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+  sourceCompatibility = buildParams.getMinimumRuntimeVersion()
+}
+
 tasks.named('forbiddenApisMain').configure {
   //sql does not depend on server, so only jdk signatures should be checked
   replaceSignatureFiles 'jdk-signatures'