diff --git a/changelog.d/2675.fixed.md b/changelog.d/2675.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..402941c407b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/2675.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Make splitqueues optional to support old version
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mirrord/operator/src/client.rs b/mirrord/operator/src/client.rs
index bd3f5b0b8d6..ac74e5315fe 100644
--- a/mirrord/operator/src/client.rs
+++ b/mirrord/operator/src/client.rs
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ impl OperatorApi<PreparedClientCert> {
                 target,
                 idle_ttl: Some(Self::COPIED_POD_IDLE_TTL),
                 scale_down,
-                split_queues: split_queues.clone(),
+                split_queues: Some(split_queues.clone()),
             },
         );
 
diff --git a/mirrord/operator/src/crd.rs b/mirrord/operator/src/crd.rs
index 2a7cbe0b0ff..b8e22e4843a 100644
--- a/mirrord/operator/src/crd.rs
+++ b/mirrord/operator/src/crd.rs
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ pub struct CopyTargetSpec {
     /// Ignored if [`Target`] is not [`Target::Deployment`].
     pub scale_down: bool,
     /// Split queues client side configuration.
-    pub split_queues: SplitQueuesConfig,
+    pub split_queues: Option<SplitQueuesConfig>,
 }
 
 /// Features and operations that can be blocked by a `MirrordPolicy`.