diff --git a/testcase/fio/fio.py b/testcase/fio/fio.py
index 8c9599f54c2dffa8c466a3e8f1886b5ac4505d99..baa00f8924feeb46bb5a4bd83bd47f7d37ebfcc9 100644
--- a/testcase/fio/fio.py
+++ b/testcase/fio/fio.py
@@ -136,9 +136,26 @@ class PerfFio(TSTPerf):
             umount_blkdev(blkdev=block_dev)
             return block_dev
         elif fs == "xfs":
-            mount_point = self.format_mount_fs(
-                block_dev=block_dev, fs=fs, format_cmd="mkfs.xfs -f"
-            )
+            # Disable features not supported by older kernels (e.g. 5.4.x):
+            #   inobtcount  - inode btree counters (kernel >= 5.16)
+            #   bigtime     - timestamps beyond 2038  (kernel >= 5.10)
+            #   nrext64     - 64-bit extent counters  (kernel >= 6.0)
+            # Passing these flags requires xfsprogs >= 5.10; if the installed
+            # xfsprogs is too old to recognise them the fallback retries with
+            # plain mkfs.xfs -f so older environments still work.
+            mkfs_xfs_compat = "mkfs.xfs -f -m inobtcount=0 -m bigtime=0 -i nrext64=0"
+            mkfs_xfs_plain  = "mkfs.xfs -f"
+            try:
+                mount_point = self.format_mount_fs(
+                    block_dev=block_dev, fs=fs, format_cmd=mkfs_xfs_compat
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                self.log(
+                    "mkfs.xfs with compat flags failed, retrying with plain mkfs.xfs -f"
+                )
+                mount_point = self.format_mount_fs(
+                    block_dev=block_dev, fs=fs, format_cmd=mkfs_xfs_plain
+                )
         elif fs == "ext4":
             mount_point = self.format_mount_fs(
                 block_dev=block_dev, fs=fs, format_cmd="mkfs.ext4 -F"