diff --git a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
index 92782ea235..93947d5326 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/bin/neon_local.rs
@@ -695,18 +695,18 @@ fn handle_timeline(timeline_match: &ArgMatches, env: &mut local_env::LocalEnv) -
             // TODO validate both or none are provided
             let pg_wal = end_lsn.zip(wal_tarfile);
 
-            let mut cplane = ComputeControlPlane::load(env.clone())?;
-            println!("Importing timeline into pageserver ...");
-            pageserver.timeline_import(tenant_id, timeline_id, base, pg_wal)?;
-            println!("Creating node for imported timeline ...");
-            env.register_branch_mapping(name.to_string(), tenant_id, timeline_id)?;
-
             let pg_version = import_match
                 .value_of("pg-version")
                 .unwrap()
                 .parse::<u32>()
                 .context("Failed to parse postgres version from the argument string")?;
 
+            let mut cplane = ComputeControlPlane::load(env.clone())?;
+            println!("Importing timeline into pageserver ...");
+            pageserver.timeline_import(tenant_id, timeline_id, base, pg_wal, pg_version)?;
+            println!("Creating node for imported timeline ...");
+            env.register_branch_mapping(name.to_string(), tenant_id, timeline_id)?;
+
             cplane.new_node(tenant_id, name, timeline_id, None, None, pg_version)?;
             println!("Done");
         }
diff --git a/control_plane/src/storage.rs b/control_plane/src/storage.rs
index 95ade14fbf..9032f99971 100644
--- a/control_plane/src/storage.rs
+++ b/control_plane/src/storage.rs
@@ -547,6 +547,7 @@ impl PageServerNode {
         timeline_id: TimelineId,
         base: (Lsn, PathBuf),
         pg_wal: Option<(Lsn, PathBuf)>,
+        pg_version: u32,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         let mut client = self.pg_connection_config.connect(NoTls).unwrap();
 
@@ -565,8 +566,9 @@ impl PageServerNode {
         };
 
         // Import base
-        let import_cmd =
-            format!("import basebackup {tenant_id} {timeline_id} {start_lsn} {end_lsn}");
+        let import_cmd = format!(
+            "import basebackup {tenant_id} {timeline_id} {start_lsn} {end_lsn} {pg_version}"
+        );
         let mut writer = client.copy_in(&import_cmd)?;
         io::copy(&mut base_reader, &mut writer)?;
         writer.finish()?;
diff --git a/pageserver/src/http/models.rs b/pageserver/src/http/models.rs
index 851fa881a0..d5559653b2 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/http/models.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/http/models.rs
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ pub struct LocalTimelineInfo {
     pub last_received_msg_lsn: Option<Lsn>,
     /// the timestamp (in microseconds) of the last received message
     pub last_received_msg_ts: Option<u128>,
+    pub pg_version: u32,
 }
 
 #[serde_as]
diff --git a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
index 6892c0b391..a55c6c973e 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/http/routes.rs
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ fn local_timeline_info_from_timeline(
         wal_source_connstr,
         last_received_msg_lsn,
         last_received_msg_ts,
+        pg_version: timeline.pg_version,
     };
     Ok(info)
 }
diff --git a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
index fed5d0dcc4..368b4c8bee 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
@@ -959,22 +959,15 @@ impl postgres_backend_async::Handler for PageServerHandler {
             // 1. Get start/end LSN from backup_manifest file
             // 2. Run:
             // cat my_backup/base.tar | psql -h $PAGESERVER \
-            //     -c "import basebackup $TENANT $TIMELINE $START_LSN $END_LSN"
+            //     -c "import basebackup $TENANT $TIMELINE $START_LSN $END_LSN $PG_VERSION"
             let (_, params_raw) = query_string.split_at("import basebackup ".len());
             let params = params_raw.split_whitespace().collect::<Vec<_>>();
-            ensure!(params.len() >= 4);
+            ensure!(params.len() == 5);
             let tenant_id = TenantId::from_str(params[0])?;
             let timeline_id = TimelineId::from_str(params[1])?;
             let base_lsn = Lsn::from_str(params[2])?;
             let end_lsn = Lsn::from_str(params[3])?;
-
-            let pg_version = if params.len() == 5 {
-                u32::from_str(params[4])?
-            } else {
-                // If version is not provided, assume default.
-                // TODO: this may lead to weird errors if the version is wrong.
-                crate::DEFAULT_PG_VERSION
-            };
+            let pg_version = u32::from_str(params[4])?;
 
             self.check_permission(Some(tenant_id))?;
 
diff --git a/scripts/export_import_between_pageservers.py b/scripts/export_import_between_pageservers.py
index af847be49e..0fccf5199d 100755
--- a/scripts/export_import_between_pageservers.py
+++ b/scripts/export_import_between_pageservers.py
@@ -470,9 +470,10 @@ def import_timeline(
     last_lsn,
     prev_lsn,
     tar_filename,
+    pg_version,
 ):
     # Import timelines to new pageserver
-    import_cmd = f"import basebackup {tenant_id} {timeline_id} {last_lsn} {last_lsn}"
+    import_cmd = f"import basebackup {tenant_id} {timeline_id} {last_lsn} {last_lsn} {pg_version}"
     full_cmd = rf"""cat {tar_filename} | {psql_path} {pageserver_connstr} -c '{import_cmd}' """
 
     stderr_filename2 = os.path.join(args.work_dir, f"import_{tenant_id}_{timeline_id}.stderr")
@@ -594,6 +595,7 @@ def main(args: argparse.Namespace):
                 last_lsn,
                 prev_lsn,
                 tar_filename,
+                timeline["local"]["pg_version"],
             )
 
             # Re-export and compare