diff --git a/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptions.java b/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptions.java
index 1e57d9fab7cfd..9cf9e38aeed20 100644
--- a/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptions.java
+++ b/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptions.java
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ static Path findAgentJar(String installDir) throws IOException, UserException {
 
         try (var apmStream = Files.list(apmModule)) {
             final List<Path> paths = apmStream.filter(
-                path -> path.getFileName().toString().matches("elastic-apm-agent-\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+\\.jar")
+                path -> path.getFileName().toString().matches("elastic-apm-agent-java8-\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+\\.jar")
             ).toList();
 
             if (paths.size() > 1) {
diff --git a/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptionsTests.java b/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptionsTests.java
index 0e067afc1aa73..8874155bc9663 100644
--- a/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptionsTests.java
+++ b/distribution/tools/server-cli/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/server/cli/APMJvmOptionsTests.java
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ private Path makeFakeAgentJar() throws IOException {
         Path tempFile = createTempFile();
         Path apmPathDir = tempFile.getParent().resolve("modules").resolve("apm");
         Files.createDirectories(apmPathDir);
-        Path apmAgentFile = apmPathDir.resolve("elastic-apm-agent-0.0.0.jar");
+        Path apmAgentFile = apmPathDir.resolve("elastic-apm-agent-java8-0.0.0.jar");
         Files.move(tempFile, apmAgentFile);
 
         return tempFile.getParent();
diff --git a/docs/changelog/132651.yaml b/docs/changelog/132651.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4e01ebdb6e3b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/132651.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+pr: 132651
+summary: Use java8 variant of apm-agent
+area: Infra/Core
+type: upgrade
+issues: []
diff --git a/gradle/verification-metadata.xml b/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
index acd3588b2a8b8..310b1f33b29cc 100644
--- a/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
+++ b/gradle/verification-metadata.xml
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@
             <sha256 value="10fe288fd7a2cdaf5175332b73529f9abf8fd54dcfff317d6967c0c35ffb133b" origin="Generated by Gradle"/>
          </artifact>
       </component>
-      <component group="co.elastic.apm" name="elastic-apm-agent" version="1.52.2">
-         <artifact name="elastic-apm-agent-1.52.2.jar">
-            <sha256 value="dee18355a06f66a425bd597d6447ccbe7e8b7a3c0667adb7b30da173e31044e0" origin="Generated by Gradle"/>
+      <component group="co.elastic.apm" name="elastic-apm-agent-java8" version="1.55.0">
+         <artifact name="elastic-apm-agent-java8-1.55.0.jar">
+            <sha256 value="a4f3ae98e180dd5138cc8c719889366fe7d3afcecdb618da6db0b144a1717ac8" origin="Generated by Gradle"/>
          </artifact>
       </component>
       <component group="co.elastic.logging" name="ecs-logging-core" version="1.2.0">
diff --git a/modules/apm/build.gradle b/modules/apm/build.gradle
index 86d06258bcbca..83d988e966899 100644
--- a/modules/apm/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/apm/build.gradle
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ dependencies {
   implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api:${otelVersion}"
   implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-context:${otelVersion}"
   implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-semconv:${otelSemconvVersion}"
-  runtimeOnly    "co.elastic.apm:elastic-apm-agent:1.52.2"
+  runtimeOnly    "co.elastic.apm:elastic-apm-agent-java8:1.55.0"
 
   javaRestTestImplementation project(':modules:apm')
   javaRestTestImplementation project(':test:framework')
diff --git a/modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-LICENSE.txt b/modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-java8-LICENSE.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-LICENSE.txt
rename to modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-java8-LICENSE.txt
diff --git a/modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-NOTICE.txt b/modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-java8-NOTICE.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-NOTICE.txt
rename to modules/apm/licenses/elastic-apm-agent-java8-NOTICE.txt
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
index f4b390c9863f2..55b5eb8ad7786 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/Node.java
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ public static void deleteTemporaryApmConfig(JvmInfo jvmInfo, BiConsumer<Exceptio
                     "\\" + File.separator,
                     ".*modules",
                     "apm",
-                    "elastic-apm-agent-\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+\\.jar"
+                    "elastic-apm-agent-java8-\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+\\.jar"
                 );
                 if (parts[0].matches(APM_AGENT_CONFIG_FILE_REGEX)) {
                     if (parts.length == 2 && parts[1].startsWith("c=")) {