diff --git a/tests/test_multi_master_start_stop.sh b/tests/test_multi_master_start_stop.sh
index 755aff4e..b32f040a 100755
--- a/tests/test_multi_master_start_stop.sh
+++ b/tests/test_multi_master_start_stop.sh
@@ -3,18 +3,28 @@
 CURR_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 [ -d "$CURR_DIR" ] || { echo "FATAL: no current dir (maybe running in zsh?)";  exit 1; }
 
+KNOWN_TO_FAIL=("v1.17.17-k3s1" "v1.18.15-k3s1") # some versions of k3s don't work here (dqlite), so we can skip them here
+
 # shellcheck source=./common.sh
 source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
 
 : "${EXTRA_FLAG:=""}"
 : "${EXTRA_TITLE:=""}"
 
+
+export CURRENT_STAGE="Test | multi-server-start-stop | $K3S_IMAGE_TAG"
+
 if [[ -n "$K3S_IMAGE_TAG" ]]; then
+  for failing in "${KNOWN_TO_FAIL[@]}"; do
+    if [[ "$failing" == "$K3S_IMAGE_TAG" ]]; then
+      warn "$K3S_IMAGE_TAG is known to fail this test. Skipping."
+      exit 0
+    fi
+  done
   EXTRA_FLAG="--image rancher/k3s:$K3S_IMAGE_TAG"
   EXTRA_TITLE="(rancher/k3s:$K3S_IMAGE_TAG)"
 fi
 
-export CURRENT_STAGE="Test | multi-server-start-stop | $K3S_IMAGE_TAG"
 
 info "Creating cluster multiserver $EXTRA_TITLE ..."
 $EXE cluster create "multiserver" --servers 3 --api-port 6443 --wait --timeout 360s $EXTRA_FLAG || failed "could not create cluster multiserver $EXTRA_TITLE"