diff --git a/edb/buildmeta.py b/edb/buildmeta.py
index 957581cd073..ecaf60186bb 100644
--- a/edb/buildmeta.py
+++ b/edb/buildmeta.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 # The merge conflict there is a nice reminder that you probably need
 # to write a patch in edb/pgsql/patches.py, and then you should preserve
 # the old value.
-EDGEDB_CATALOG_VERSION = 2024_12_04_00_00
+EDGEDB_CATALOG_VERSION = 2024_12_11_00_00
 EDGEDB_MAJOR_VERSION = 6
 
 
diff --git a/edb/lib/_testmode.edgeql b/edb/lib/_testmode.edgeql
index d2d75d8cd22..ebef5bd617d 100644
--- a/edb/lib/_testmode.edgeql
+++ b/edb/lib/_testmode.edgeql
@@ -289,6 +289,17 @@ sys::_sleep(duration: std::duration) -> std::bool
 };
 
 
+CREATE FUNCTION
+sys::_postgres_version() -> std::str
+{
+    CREATE ANNOTATION std::description :=
+        'Get the postgres version string';
+    USING SQL $$
+    SELECT version()
+    $$;
+};
+
+
 CREATE FUNCTION
 sys::_advisory_lock(key: std::int64) -> std::bool
 {
diff --git a/edb/server/pgcluster.py b/edb/server/pgcluster.py
index 393b126bc4a..c863772b107 100644
--- a/edb/server/pgcluster.py
+++ b/edb/server/pgcluster.py
@@ -333,16 +333,19 @@ async def _copy_database(
         if self._pg_bin_dir is None:
             await self.lookup_postgres()
         pg_dump = self._find_pg_binary('pg_dump')
-        pg_restore = self._find_pg_binary('pg_restore')
+        # We actually just use psql to restore, because it is more
+        # tolerant of version differences.
+        # TODO: Maybe use pg_restore when we know we match the backend version?
+        pg_restore = self._find_pg_binary('psql')
 
         src_conn_args, src_env = self._dump_restore_conn_args(src_dbname)
         tgt_conn_args, _tgt_env = self._dump_restore_conn_args(tgt_dbname)
 
         dump_args = [
-            pg_dump, '--verbose', '--format=c', *src_conn_args, *src_args
+            pg_dump, '--verbose', *src_conn_args, *src_args
         ]
         restore_args = [
-            pg_restore, '--verbose', *tgt_conn_args, *tgt_args
+            pg_restore, *tgt_conn_args, *tgt_args
         ]
 
         rpipe, wpipe = os.pipe()
@@ -367,6 +370,8 @@ async def _copy_database(
                 stdin=rpipe,
                 capture_stdout=False,
                 capture_stderr=False,
+                log_stdout=True,
+                log_stderr=True,
                 env=src_env,
             )
         finally:
diff --git a/edb/testbase/server.py b/edb/testbase/server.py
index 87bcff17c84..932140ea8d6 100644
--- a/edb/testbase/server.py
+++ b/edb/testbase/server.py
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
 from edb.common import retryloop
 from edb.common import secretkey
 
+from edb import buildmeta
 from edb import protocol
 from edb.protocol import protocol as test_protocol
 from edb.testbase import serutils
@@ -1982,6 +1983,17 @@ def setUpClass(cls):
         # Run pg_dump to create the dump data for an existing Gel database.
         with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as f:
             cls.run_pg_dump_on_connection(conargs, '-f', f.name)
+
+            # Skip the restore part of the test if the database
+            # backend is older than our pg_dump, since it won't work.
+            pg_ver_str = cls.loop.run_until_complete(
+                cls.backend.fetch('select version()')
+            )[0][0]
+            pg_ver = buildmeta.parse_pg_version(pg_ver_str)
+            bundled_ver = buildmeta.get_pg_version()
+            if pg_ver.major < bundled_ver.major:
+                raise unittest.SkipTest('pg_dump newer than backend')
+
             # Create a new Postgres database to be used for dump tests.
             db_exists = cls.loop.run_until_complete(
                 cls.backend.fetch(f'''
diff --git a/tests/test_edgeql_extensions.py b/tests/test_edgeql_extensions.py
index cceb5ad0b68..841efff4912 100644
--- a/tests/test_edgeql_extensions.py
+++ b/tests/test_edgeql_extensions.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 import edgedb
 
+import edb.buildmeta
 from edb.testbase import server as tb
 
 
@@ -112,6 +113,13 @@ async def _extension_test_01(self):
         ''')
 
     async def test_edgeql_extensions_01(self):
+        pg_ver = edb.buildmeta.parse_pg_version(await self.con.query_single('''
+            select sys::_postgres_version();
+        '''))
+        # Skip if postgres is old, since it doesn't have ltree 1.3
+        if pg_ver.major < 17:
+            self.skipTest('Postgres version too old')
+
         # Make an extension that wraps a tiny bit of the ltree package.
         await self.con.execute('''
         create extension package ltree VERSION '1.0' {
diff --git a/tests/test_edgeql_sys.py b/tests/test_edgeql_sys.py
index 572a00361b0..5d0c590ef1b 100644
--- a/tests/test_edgeql_sys.py
+++ b/tests/test_edgeql_sys.py
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ async def _bad_query_for_stats(self):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
     async def _test_sys_query_stats(self):
+        if self.backend_dsn:
+            self.skipTest(
+                "can't run query stats test when extension isn't present"
+            )
+
         stats_query = f'''
             with stats := (
                 select